The outputs of the Caucasus Foundation's "Digital Heritage: Transferring Cultural Heritage to the Future with Youth Digital Skills" project, supported by the Turkish National Agency within the scope of Erasmus+ Small-Scale Partnerships in the Youth Field, were introduced at Istanbul Ticaret University's Eminönü Ahi Çelebi Campus.
The program was attended by project partners, academics, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and young participants.
Veysel Arıhan, Chairman of the Board of the Caucasus Foundation, stated that the foundation has been active for 32 years and has recently focused on cultural and social projects for young people.
Arıhan noted that the project, carried out with the support of the Turkish National Agency, is focused on digital transformation. He stated that the goal is to digitize the foundation's library, which consists of approximately 6,000 books, as well as the collections of project partners in different languages.
Arıhan said: "Our libraries contain works in approximately 80 different languages. Accessing these resources from different countries around the world is quite difficult. So, we thought about how we could transfer them to the digital environment. At the same time, we aimed to provide training to young people in the fields of digitalization, digital archiving, and artificial intelligence."
The project was carried out in partnership with the Paris Chechen Institute, the Bremen Circassian Cultural Association, and the Shamil Education and Culture Foundation. Participants conducted studies at institutions in Turkey such as the Rami Library, the Center for Islamic Studies (ISAM) Library, and the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA). They also had the opportunity to see digital transformation practices firsthand at important library and archive centers in Germany and France.
Arıhan stated that participants received practical training in digital archiving, data management, and cataloging during the project. Arıhan said, "Today, as the final leg of this, we are launching the digital library established by young people. They created the entire system themselves, building the digital infrastructure by processing data from A to Z."
Arıhan stated that the project is the beginning of new endeavors, adding: "The average age of our friends is 24-25. We have a very dynamic team. We saw this project as the first step. We are just at the beginning. We aim to develop new digitalization projects with the experience we gained from our state institutions, libraries, and various private archives, and to reach more people with them."
During the program, the digital library infrastructure developed within the scope of the project and other project outputs were introduced to the participants.
Digital Heritage Project
Within the scope of the project, which started in October 2025, participants attended training and technical visit programs at IRCICA, ISAM Library, the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey State Archives Ottoman Archive, Rami Library, Istanbul University Rare Books Library, and Salt Galata Archive.
Within the scope of the work carried out in March and April, a digital library infrastructure was created, and scanning, classification, and analysis processes were completed, establishing an automation system.
During the mobility programs held in Germany and France, participants received training on digital archiving, information management, and the use of artificial intelligence technologies in archive systems at the Berlin State Library, the French National Library, Paris Nanterre University La Contemporaine, and the Louvre Youth Center Library.
The project, supported by the Turkish National Agency in 2025 within the scope of Erasmus+ Small-Scale Partnerships in the Youth Field, is being carried out under the coordination of the Caucasus Foundation in partnership with the Shamil Education and Culture Foundation, the Paris Chechen Institute, and the Bremen Circassian Cultural Association.
The project aims to develop the digital competencies of young people, transfer cultural heritage to the digital environment, and deliver it to future generations. In line with this, participants attended training sessions in libraries and archives in Turkey, Germany, and France, conducting studies on digital archiving, data management, and artificial intelligence applications.
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