Gaming and Cultural Heritage: a training project that brings museums and video games together
‘Gaming and Cultural Heritage’, the training project that brings museums and video games together.
Rome, 28 October 2025 – In recent years, video games have transcended the realm of mere entertainment to establish themselves as a legitimate cultural medium. Capable of telling stories, exploring complex themes and creating immersive experiences, they are now recognised as a powerful expressive medium, even within the cultural sector.
Museums, institutions and cultural heritage professionals are increasingly turning to video games as a new form of storytelling and audience engagement.
It is from this awareness that the training project *Gaming and Cultural Heritage: Designing Interactive Experiences for Heritage, a training project promoted by the Scuola Nazionale del Patrimonio e delle Attività Culturali in collaboration with IIDEA (Italian Interactive Digital Entertainment Association).
This initiative aims to establish common ground between museums and the world of video games, encouraging the exchange of skills, languages and professions to develop new forms of storytelling and heritage experiences that combine cultural content with technological innovation. The programme provides cultural operators and professionals with the tools to integrate game design principles into heritage enhancement processes, offering both theoretical and practical guidance.
The programme consists of two phases:
The project consists of two phases: online training from October to December 2025 and an in-person winter school from February to March 2026. These phases combine theoretical learning, hands-on experimentation and networking between the cultural sector and the creative industry.
Online training:
Four sessions, which will be hosted on the platform fad.fondazionescuolapatrimonio.it, will introduce participants to the principles of game design and the connections between video games and cultural heritage. Participation is open to all and is a prerequisite for the in-person phase.
Schedule:
28 October: Fabrizia Malgeri, ‘Homo (video)ludens: The Video Game that Generates Culture”
11 November – Claudia Molinari, ‘Game Design and Cultural Heritage’
25 November – Pietro Polsinelli, ‘How to Estimate and Produce an Applied Game’
9 December – Vincenzo Santalucia, ‘Creating Effective Applied Games’
Winter School:
The practical phase consists of an intensive three-day workshop focusing on designing video game concepts to enhance cultural heritage. Supported by university professors, developers and designers, participants will work in teams until the public presentation of their projects.
Two editions are planned:
Reggio Calabria, February 2026
Bologna, March 2026
The Winter School will have a limited number of participants (20 per location). The call for applications will be published between November and December 2025.
The Gaming and Cultural Heritage programme forms part of Dicolab’s training offer. It is part of Cultura al Digitale, the educational system for the digital transformation of cultural heritage promoted by the Ministry of Culture – Digital Library within the framework of PNRR Cultura 4.0, implemented by the National School of Cultural Heritage and Activities and funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU.
More information can be found at: https://www.fondazionescuolapatrimonio.it/gaming-e-beni-culturali/