Reimagining Cultural Heritage: designing Game Jams as Learning Spaces

Game jams have increasingly been adopted as innovative learning approaches to explore and address complex cultural and societal challenges across formal (e.g., university) and informal (e.g., GLAM) educational contexts. However, there remains a lack of pedagogical models and materials that align learning goals, activities, and assessments constructively for such events. Based on an analysis of four cultural game jams (2024-2025) involving 168 young people (aged 14-32) held in an art museum, this paper proposes a pedagogical design model grounded in systematisation and adaptability as core design principles. The model promotes hybrid and inclusive participation that connects young people, museum professionals, creative industry experts, and educators across disciplinary boundaries and digital and physical environments, advancing design as an innovative educational practice within GLAM’s digital transformation. Its primary contribution is a practical pedagogical model for designing and facilitating jam-based learning spaces that strengthen collaborative and cultural innovation across formal and informal contexts.