Today, digitalisation is seen as essential to the activities and survival of any cultural organisation. It is also presented as a key lever for the urgent ecological transition. But how can cultural organisations deal with digital tools, platforms and infrastructure that do not reflect their values and mission?
In 2020, the ENCC has started a project to renew its communications, website and everyday digital tools in order to move away from Big Tech and switch to more ethical and dignified digital practices and environments. ENCC designed it as an open-ended experiment, to be shared and reshaped with network members and other cultural organisations interested in the "switch".
ENCC started by listing the digital tools used everyday in the network coordination office. ENCC wrote about the experiences that made them want to move towards a new relationship with digital, and the many questions that this desire brought up among the office members.
Starting from there, ENCC partnered with Spec uloos, a graphic design studio that has been working on digital culture and its limits for many years, to co-write a document gathering reflections, readings, practical research, examples and stories about digital technologies from the perspective of cultural centres and other organisations.
ENCC is happy to share this document as a starting point for our work-in-progress and a source of information and inspiration for others. Here is an overview of the contents:
