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| The Heritage Learning Hub
‘The heritage sector contributes some £60 billion per year to the UK economy.’
The Heritage Learning Hub will be a world-class facility, showcasing heritage products and making them accessible to new audiences.
The need
Two million people are employed in creative jobs and the sector has grown at twice the rate of the economy as a whole. However, much diversity of experience is hidden within museums and archives or isolated within specific disciplines.
We must unlock our hidden heritage by bringing together existing disparate areas of knowledge, improving accessibility to different audiences and informing future government policy.
The solution
The University will create the Heritage Learning Hub, a new digital space that will bring together its existing research in a world-class facility. At the heart of the hub will be a 3D multimedia hall, showcasing interactive heritage projects to visitors including academics, students and the public, Visitors will be able to digitally experience ‘touching’ priceless artefacts such as a centuries-old mummy’s hand.
The result - The University’s cultural assets are brought together for the first time and given a public face, making Birmingham an international centre of excellence.
- The hidden potential of our heritage is unlocked through the application of new technologies that explain the significance of the cultures within our diverse society.
- Improved partnerships with the creative industries further develops expertise in the management of local and world heritage sites.
Why Birmingham
As well as existing cultural assets such as Special Collections and the Barber Institute, the University also has direct associations with important regional centres such as the Shakespeare Institute and Ironbridge Institute.
Birmingham is already leading the way in using technology to explain the significance of the past through its BM Visual and Spatial Technology Centre (VISTA).
How you can help
To manage the Hub, two new staffing positions will be created, supported by a team of ten PhD researchers to train a steady stream of students in various fields of heritage studies.
Cutting-edge digital equipment including an interactive 3D touch table is needed to enable the Hub to achieve its goals.
Match funding means that for every £3 donated to the University, the government will donate £1 until 2011; for further information, contact Nick Blinco, tel +44 (0)121 415 8089.
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Digital handshake: Visitors will be able to experience 'touching' a mummy's hand 
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