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View of the remodeling works of La Model prison of Barcelona during the summer of 2020 I EUROM
society in order to build collective memory . The challenge is to hold onto the tension between the varying scales and dimensions of such a process or processes . And this is precisely what we want to share in the present issue of Observing Memories . The aim of our journal is to reflect , learn and share knowledge , but always with a multifaceted engagement from all quarters .
Dynamic engagement helps us to strengthen the transmission of the past in the present through cultural projects and processes , and ensure the public ’ s access as a core element in our recovery or resignification of memory and its physical or virtual spaces . Hence , at the close of the second decade of the twenty-first century , it is necessary to undertake a variety of activities to bolster our knowledge of the different digital uses of the recent past that arise in the international arena . Memory maps , which feature databases of international memorial spaces , offer a tool to visualize the importance of memorial work and provide a foundation of digital information from which to obtain data on memorial institutions anywhere on the five continents of the globe .
Another key element in memorial activation is the proliferation of networks , platforms and groups of professionals who promote transnational memory as an arena for debate , participation , and the management and promotion of shared memorial projects . These networks and platforms are also useful when critically analysing the process of memorialization and public policies on memory at a comparative and international level . Memory and its challenges in the twenty-first century must necessarily be transnational , digital , cultural and comparative , to name but a few of its characteristics .
Ultimately , our practice in this respect must be mixed , blending analysis , observation , learning and transnational work . That is what lies at the heart of our journal : to be an international window onto ideas , analyses and examples that reflect memory ’ s multiplicity . These ingredients shape our democratic reality and the socio-political map of today ’ s Europe . The very concept of Europe is a juxtaposition and memorial multiplicity constructed day by day . This wealth , when compared to
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