Decolonising digital practices in Intangible Cultural Heritage. Implications from literature and funded EC research projects towards a framework of design principles

In the context of a digitally mature world in which the relationship between Cultural Heritage and digital technologies is under re-evaluation, this paper critically rethink the use of digital technologies for preserving and valorising Intangible Cultural Heritage through a decolonising lens. A criticall literature review is provided and a comparative analysis is conducted on EC funded reserachprojects in order to depict from rhetoric misuses to real transformative uses of digital technologies, in avoiding excluding actors depending on their gender, cultural inclination or digital literacy, generating a genuine capacitation and participation of the whole ecosystem and distributing leadership and agency. This scoping paper acts as preliminary work for further investigation, attempting to provide by four principles and a framework for Pluriversal Design for Digital ICH, initial indications of the potential extent and nature of this emergent topic at the intersection of digital technologies, decolonising design, and cultural heritage policy.