The University Network of European Capitals of Culture (UNeECC) and Network of Universities form the Capitals of Europe (UNICA) have joined forces to collaborate and inspire its members to create a webinar series called UniverCities. The main aim is to explore and discuss interesting topics, research results, co-created projects, between universities, cultural institutions, and art businesses. The first webinar on 17 November 2021 spotlighted the theme of digitalization, culture and art.

Around 50 participants took part in the first webinar on Zoom. Both organizations rated it as a particularly valuable and exciting event and we hope to co-organize a new webinar in spring next year.

Those who missed it, or those who would like to relive the webinar, please click here to watch the Youtube video: https://youtu.be/rpPELdaVEL8?t=25

 Speakers from member universities from both networks demonstrated how the inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation between the technology and hard sciences departments on the one hand and the humanities on the other lead to scientific insight, new methods and progress in both fields.
Illustrations were given from palaeography by Serena Ammirati from Roma Tre University, from musical heritage by Bart Demuyt from the University of Leuven, from literature by Anastasia Bonch-Osmolovskaya from Moscow Higher School of Economics, from linguistics by Anca Dinu and Mihnea Dobre from the University of Bucharest and from archeology by Miklos Jakab from the University of Pannonia. Catherine Morris from the University of Galway and Hope University Liverpool illustrated the complex innovative opportunities for organizing digital art events and multi-form conferences.
All of them gave witness of the beneficial collaboration of man and machine in the further evolution of their academic endeavours.

 The following presentations can be seen in the Zoom video recording:

 1:38  Welcome address by Luciano Saso, UNICA President 

3:10   Welcome address by Flora Carrijn, UNeCC President

6:55   'The library of Voices' and the AR (augmented reality) musical heritage project at KU Leuven, by Bart Demuyt, Senior Innovation Manager of Musical Heritage at the University of Leuven

23:10   Scanned items of museum collections: Evolution of ceramic technology as demonstrated by non-destructive testing methods, by Miklós Jakab, Research Assistant, University of Pannonia

35:17   Tolstoy digital: objectives, insights, perspectives, by Anastasia Bonch-Osmolovskaya, Head of Digital Humanities Center, Higher School of Economics, Moscow

51:50    Capitals of Culture: Reimagining in Digital, by Catherine Morris, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing Liverpool Hope University

1:03:10  IN CODICE RATIO: when paleography meets Artificial Intelligence, by Serena Ammirati, Associate Professor, Roma Tre University

1:16:54   Beyond digitalization: challenges for humans and machines, by Anca Dinu, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures and Centre for Digital Humanities and Mihnea Dobre, ICUB-Humanities, University of Bucharest

1:33:25   Q&A session, concluding remarks