Collective Memories of the Future -Heritage Studies at the Crossroads

Heritage studies, which explore humanity’s shared assets, have developed through various stages. Fluctuations in differences and similarities over time mirror evolving approaches. The ongoing debate between human-centred interpretation and technical documentation is one of the many factors that unveil the complexity. Recent debates over digital twins and memory twins exemplify common tensions between cybernetic documentation and community involvement. In the new époque of machine learning, both tangible and intangible heritage, including born and time-based heritage, face similar issues in integrating into a new, human-designed atlas—by intelligent agents. The concepts of collective memories are at a crossroads, balancing ubiquity, sustainability, and transparency. This paper explores the various goals of heritage studies and suggests that UNESCO’s memory twins can be incorporated into existing digital twin frameworks to improve technology, foster community involvement, and develop transparent heritage platforms.