Digital Cultures and Cultural Data (DCCD)

How can we ensure that Europe's digital transformation is shaped not only by technological innovation, but also by cultural understanding, critical thinking and humanistic expertise? This question lies at the heart of DCCD. As digital platforms, data infrastructures and artificial intelligence increasingly shape how knowledge is produced, culture is created and shared, and public life is organised, there is a growing need for professionals who can understand and critically engage with these transformations.

DCCD approaches digital transformation as a cultural, political and societal process. Bringing together two complementary fields – digital cultures and cultural data – the proposed programme will combine critical cultural analysis with practical digital methods and an understanding of how technologies, data and AI are developed, implemented and governed.

The ambition is to educate graduates who can move between technological systems and humanistic interpretation, contributing to responsible and culturally informed digital development across public institutions, cultural organisations, civil society and the creative industries.

The project is coordinated by the University of Copenhagen in collaboration with Charles University in Prague, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Heidelberg University, with the University of Cambridge and the University of Geneva contributing as associated partners.

The proposed two-year programme will combine a shared academic foundation in Copenhagen with specialised study pathways at the partner universities. International mobility and comparative learning across different European cultural, linguistic and regulatory contexts will be central to the educational experience.

DCCD has received funding through the European Union's Erasmus Mundus Design Measures (EMDM) programme to develop the academic, institutional and administrative foundations for a new Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's programme.

During the 15-month development phase, the consortium will design the joint curriculum and mobility structure, conduct a needs analysis in dialogue with relevant professional sectors, and prepare the frameworks for joint governance, admission, quality assurance and accreditation.

The project aims to submit a full Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters application in February 2028, with the ambition of welcoming its first students in September 2029, subject to the necessary approvals and funding.