On June 17, 2024, Ms. Khaoula Stiti presented the results of her thesis at her public defense, which took place in the OpenLab.Brussels Great Hall at USquare.
The subject of her thesis was: “Heritage at the Nexus of Participation and Digital Platforms: Contextual Specificities in Tunis and Theoretical and Experimental frameworks”. Through this thesis, Kahoula seeks to study the contribution of participation via new digital media to an endangered heritage, focusing more specifically on postcolonial heritage in Tunis. She adopts an interdisciplinary approach that shows an apprehension of heritage under different aspects (by tangible and intangible objects, by values, by processes). Three types of actors involved in participatory approaches were identified: financial and political (by actions), institutional (by knowledge), and non-institutional, local (by knowing). This identification made it possible to establish a reading grid which then structured the reflection and enabled a form of problematization of the initial research question. From this identification also emerges a progressive demonstration ranging from the theoretical framework, followed by a field test towards useful specifications for the development of a digital application: P@trimonia 2.0. The approach we've developed using digital tools also highlights the paradoxes of participation in this context of heritage at risk.