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UNESCO embraces this vision, recognizing through its Memory of the World (MoW) Programme that digital heritage is not simply about digitizing records – it is about empowering communities, especially those historically marginalized, to participate in shaping and sharing their heritage online. 

In line with this commitment, the MoW programme is collaborating with the Khalili Foundation to enhance digital access to documentary heritage by building a rich  database of metadata, contextual information, and narrative content for the MoW International Register on Wikimedia platforms.

These platforms are more than data repositories; they are tools for intercultural dialogue. They enable communities to tell their own stories – in their own voices, on their own terms – while engaging with the narratives of others.

This principle comes to life on Wikipedia, which Liam Wyatt, Technical Partnerships Manager at the Wikimedia Foundation, described as going beyond factual accuracy. Its collaborative model, he explains, fosters intercultural dialogue in ways that no single-author or top-down publication can.

“We feel, as a community, that this is a community-curated work. This is a corpus of knowledge that is being collectively written – quite differently from the idea that individuals merely share their point of view,” Wyatt said during the international conference held by the MoW Programme in October 2024.

And this process is multilingual by design. Wikimedia’s supports over 350 languages and their associated scripts, enabling diverse communities to share knowledge authentically. Wyatt cited two recent examples such as Balinese Wikimedians in Indonesia using optical character recognition to digitize ancient palm-leaf manuscripts, and Ukrainian contributors preserving cultural moments lost to war through photography contests.

For Wikimedia, such efforts aren’t merely about preserving the past – they’re about reclaiming narrative power. “It’s epistemological decolonization,” he said. “It allows people to find the references about their society written in their society and share them with the world, rather than have the world tell them about their society back toward them.”

This theme of reclaiming participation through technology was echoed by Waqas Ahmed, Executive Director of the Khalili Foundation. Ahmed’s organization has made cultural exchange its mission – using collaboration as a tool to reach across borders and platforms. 

“You don’t have to contribute exclusively through finances to be a cultural philanthropist,” he said. “It could be a photo, a scan, a personal collection – shared for public good.”

Ahmed detailed partnerships with platforms like Google Arts & Culture and Wikimedia to digitize and disseminate the Khalili Collections – one of the world’s most significant holdings of Islamic and Asian art. 

“There’s a huge representation of Western culture and a severe underrepresentation of non-Western cultures,” he noted. “The good news is the platforms recognize this and are working with us to address it.”

That solution, Ahmed believes, lies in a multi-stakeholder approach – bringing together not just large institutions, but also community groups, independent scholars, and civil society actors. “We work with national museums, yes – but also with community libraries, local archives, and grassroots groups. That way, storytelling becomes a two-way exchange.”

But sustainability remains a key challenge. “Many institutions are still reluctant to adopt open access,” said Ahmed. “There are real concerns – about loss of control, about misuse. And in many parts of the world, there’s also simply a lack of resources or digital infrastructure.”

Overcoming that, he suggests, will require not just new technologies, but a shift in institutional culture and the building of trust between global partners. 

“It’s about ensuring that this isn’t just about one side benefiting. It’s a mutual exchange.”

Both Wyatt and Ahmed agree that the visual and experiential elements of digital platforms, such as virtual reality or interactive design, are essential to engage broader audiences. But beyond the tech itself, what they both champion is a deeper value: empowering people to tell their own stories, and in their own languages.

As Wyatt summed it up: “The best form of preservation is distribution. Open access, open formats, open participation – that’s what keeps knowledge alive.”