Studies in the history of science and education have documented that the reception
and understanding of evolutionary theory is highly contingent on local factors such as
school systems, cultural traditions, religious beliefs, and language. This has important
implications for teaching evolution in primary and secondary schools. No universal
strategy can be applied in overcoming the barriers of learning that exist and that are
part of the practical and daily life in classrooms all over the world. In light of this, a
huge challenge is to make high standard teaching materials fit to specific target
audiences readily available. As more and more schools require teachers to use low
cost or free web-based materials, in the research community we need to take seriously
how to facilitate that demand in communication strategies on evolution. This article
addresses this challenge by presenting the learning experience of making a digital
archive of Danish Darwin editions that marked the beginnings of a series of public
engagement and teaching initiatives including, among other things, comprehensive
new websites, exhibits, lecture series, television documentaries, and a computer
game.