How to communicate culture in a digital context?
How to make a complex heritage accessible without reducing its historical and cultural depth?

These are some of the questions that cultural institutions, public bodies and organisations working in heritage promotion face today.

Contemporary cultural communication is not just about promoting places or events. It means building relationships between heritage, people and territories, using digital tools, storytelling and participation.

A concrete example of this approach is the project dedicated to the Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where technology, communication and storytelling have been integrated into a single system.

Cultural communication: why an integrated approach is needed today

When it comes to communicating culture, the risk is to think only in terms of promotional campaigns or marketing activities.

In reality, effective cultural communication requires a broader approach, bringing together:

• solid cultural content
• accessible digital tools
• contemporary languages
• audience engagement

Cultural heritage, especially when spread across a territory, needs to be communicated through multiple levels of communication: informational, narrative and experiential.

The Medici Villas project was born precisely from this need: to tell the story of a system of places spread across cities, landscapes and communities, transforming them into a coherent and accessible narrative.

An app to make heritage more accessible

One of the tools used to improve communication of the Medici Villas system was the development of a dedicated app for heritage discovery.

The app was designed to guide citizens and visitors in discovering the Villas, offering:

• information on the monumental complexes
• routes between the different sites
• cultural and historical content
• orientation tools for the visit

In this way technology becomes a tool for facilitating cultural enjoyment, helping people to navigate within a widespread and complex heritage.

In the case of the Medici Villas, the app was not conceived as a simple digital catalogue, but as a gateway to the cultural system of the territory.

The role of storytelling in cultural communication

One of the most important aspects of understanding how to communicate culture concerns language.

Cultural heritage is often communicated through institutional or specialised languages that can feel distant from the public.

This is why storytelling has become a central tool in cultural communication.

In the Medici Villas project, the narrative of the heritage was built through:

• editorial content
• place-based storytelling
• storytelling of the histories connected to the Villas
• contemporary interpretations of the heritage

Storytelling allows heritage to be transformed into a narrative that connects past and present, bringing places closer to people’s experience.

Social media and creators: new forms of heritage storytelling

Another fundamental element in communicating culture today is the use of social media.

As part of the Medici Villas project, a social tour was organised, involving creators and storytellers in visiting and narrating the sites.

Through videos, images and digital content, the creators shared:

• architecture and landscapes
• history of the Villas
• the visitor experience
• connections between heritage and territory

This activity made it possible to reach diverse audiences, particularly younger ones, who often discover cultural sites through social media content.

The social tour was not conceived as simple promotion, but as a way to activate new narratives around cultural heritage.

Events and moments of engagement with the public.

Beyond digital tools, cultural communication also happens through moments of encounter and dialogue.

In the case of the Medici Villas, public events and presentation moments were organised dedicated to promoting the project, during which the following were shared:

• how the app works
• the communication plan
• the storytelling and social media activities

Events represent an important moment because they allow the digital project to connect with the territory and local communities.

How to communicate culture: designing systems, not individual tools

The Medici Villas experience shows that communicating culture today means designing communication systems, not simply individual initiatives.

An app, a social campaign or an event can only be effective if embedded within a broader strategy that connects:

• digital tools
• cultural content
• place-based storytelling
• people’s participation

Contemporary cultural communication is not just about promoting heritage, but about the ability to create relationships between places, stories and communities.

And it is precisely in this connection between technology, culture and communication that the real challenge of heritage promotion plays out today.