Digital meets Culture

IN SITU Final Conference, Valmiera, Latvia, from 11-13 May 2026

Culture Matters Here. Cultivating Creative Place-based Innovation in Non-urban Communities

The IN SITU project celebrates its Final Conference in Valmiera (Latvia) from 11 to 13 May 2026.

The conference will be a dynamic forum for exploring cutting-edge research and practices in place-based innovation and creativity of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in non-urban areas.

Because of the focus on innovative and sustainable cultural and creative practices in remote areas and peripheral corners of Europe, the themes addressed in the conference resonate many of the subjects that are studied in SECreTOUR project.

The IN SITU project invites proposals for presentations of papers and projects from a diverse range of individuals, including scholars, researchers, artists, cultural practitioners, activists, policymakers and decision-makers from across the world and a broad range of disciplines.

The deadline for submitting proposals of presentations is 8 December 2025 at 23h59 CET. The submission is expected to be delivered online through the e-form made available on the IN SITU website.

The presentations are expected to demonstrate the transformative power of the creative and cultural sector in forging more equitable and sustainable communities in rural and non-urban areas by:

Strengthening cultural and creative practice and place-based innovation
Fostering cross-sectoral collaboration and partnerships for local benefit
Advancing planning and policy frameworks for creative work in non-urban areas

We are expecting that the outcomes of the Conference will provide relevant insights in the research conducted by SECreTOUR.

SECreTOUR is a research and innovation action funded under the Horizon Europe Programme of the EU.

Follow SECreTour online also on the SECreTour project’s website.

Created in the context of the EUreka3D-XR project and designed to help anyone on their 3D digitisation journey

LIVE NOW: “3D digitisation: prepare for success” training course

The common European data space for cultural heritage is developing training resources on various themes, to support cultural institutions in building capacity for the new challenges they are facing in innovating and modernizing their workflows in the digital realm. EUreka3D project’s coordinator PHOTOCONSORTIUM, as part of the porject’s support to the data space, has finally published an online course that will help build the basics about 3D digitization projects: 3D digitisation: Steps to success.

The course is designed to help anyone on their 3D digitisation journey, and it’s specifically aimed at Cultural Heritage professionals (for instance – museums, public administrations, monuments or sites, stakeholders) who are considering, or are in the middle of, digitising their cultural heritage collections using three dimensional models. The course is based on the 3D Digitisation Guidelines, a guide based on the EU VIGIE2020/654 study on quality in 3D digitisation of tangible cultural heritage, in the hope of giving helpful insights, advices and best practices around the pratice of 3D digitisation.

The course is self paced, based on the learner’s response and is for everyone: additional resources are also available if needed.

Enroll in the course at this link.

30 learners have been selected but the keynote talks are open to all interested CH professionals via live streaming

Applicants Announced for the Online Training Programme “Driving Digital Transformation in Cultural Heritage Institutions”

We’re delighted to announce the successful applicants for the 2025 Online Training Programme “Driving Digital Transformation in Cultural Heritage Institutions”, organized by EUreka3D‑XR Project in collaboration with the International Council on Archives (ICA) and Photoconsortium.

After a competitive selection process, 30 learners have been selected to join the full programme and will engage in three sessions, designed to deepen their knowledge of digital strategies and practices in the heritage sector. Each session will comprise an open keynote speech, livestreamed for all public, and an interactive working session for the selected cohort: attendants of the three interactive sessions will receive a certificate of participation.

We extend our sincere thanks to the over 160 CH professionals and students who applied— your enthusiasm and commitment to advancing digital transformation in cultural heritage are highly valued. Unfortunately, due to the limited number of places (30 selected learners), we were unable to accommodate all applicants this time. In any case, the keynote lessons of each session will be available open to all, via streaming on the ICA YouTube channel and will be recorded for rewatching and reuse. Whether you applied and were not selected, or you are simply interested in following the presentations and dialogues, you are warmly invited to tune in and engage.

Wednesday, 19 Nov 2025 h. 15:00–17:00 CET
“Heritage Policies and Strategies for the Digital Transformation of Practices”
Keynote by Antonella Fresa – The session will explore European policies, strategic visions and infrastructures underlying digital cultural heritage
Live streaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_f3GCcFGKI

Wednesday, 26 Nov 2025 h. 15:00–17:00 CET
“The Impact and Transformative Power of Digital Cultural Heritage”
Keynotes by Fred Truyen (KU Leuven) & David Iglésias Franch (CRDI – Ajuntament de Girona) – Focus on case-studies and the practical and societal implications of digital heritage innovation
Live streaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhqL4n2GvJ0

Wednesday, 3 Dec 2025 h. 15:00–17:00 CET
“Good Practices and Experiences for Creation, Access and Re-use”
Keynotes by Frederik Temmermans (VUB – imec) & Eirini Kaldeli (NTUA) – A co-creation interactive session based on use-case scenarios for creation, access and re-use of cultural assets
Live streaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObuhHUDxzVk

About the Programme

The 2025 Online Training Programme builds on the previous webinar series organised in 2023–2024 and seeks to provide cultural heritage professionals with advanced knowledge and applied methodologies in digital transformation.

Through this initiative ICA, EUreka3D-XR and Photoconsortium aim to support heritage institutions in addressing policy implications, strategic frameworks, practice-based innovation and reuse of digital cultural heritage.

Online, November 17 2025, 1PM CET

Q&A Session for the Outreach Synergy Call

The Q&A Session for the Outreach Synergy Call will take place online on 17 November 2025 from 1:00–2:00 PM CET.

The session will introduce the Outreach Synergy Call, a funding opportunity designed to support new and creative uses of 3D cultural heritage data and tools. Participants will also have the chance to explore the innovative tools developed by the consortium: the Rooom XR Viewer, PCSS (DLibra) 3DViewer, and the 4D Viewer by the University of Jena.

Registration: Explore the 3DBigDataSpace Tools and the Outreach Synergy Call : Time Machine Europe

The campaign, launched in Spring 2025, aims at supporting Members States with 3D digitisation of heritage

EUreka3D-XR supports ‘Twin It! Part II’ campaign

EUreka3D initiative, supporting the common European data space for cultural heritage, is fully on board with the new Twin it! Part II campaign organized by the Europeana Foundation and the European Commission.

The campaign, building on the successes achieved in 2024, aims to further support EU Member States in their 3D digitisation and preservation efforts — now with a sharper focus on how the digitised assets will be used, to unlock the power of 3D digitisation by driving meaningful reuse across sectors, expanding the reach and impact of cultural data, and boosting innovation and competitiveness across the cultural heritage ecosystem.

As openly accesible resources available to all CH professionals, EUreka3D developed tools, training and documentation, in particular:

the EUreka3D Data Hub, a EU-based platform for safe storage, management and sharing of 3D assets,
the Step to Success digitization guidelines, derived from the EU VIGIE Study 2020/654.
the self-paced course on Europeana Training Platform “3D digitisation: prepare for success“, to help anyone on their 3D digitisation journey, specifically aimed at Cultural Heritage professionals who are considering, or in the middle of, digitising their cultural heritage collections using three dimensional models.

Additionally, the most recent developments of the project in the realm of XR tools will be soon available for the entire CH community, offering for reuse 5 tools for XR creation and 3 demonstration scenarios in France, Spain and Cyprus.

A new blog published on Europeana in the context of EUreka3D-XR

Discover the history of the walls of Girona

The story of Girona is the story of its walls – built in Roman times, altered in the Middle Ages, and demolished in the 19th and 20th centuries. Now the walls are being virtually reconstructed in 3D by the EUreka3D-XR project.

Go read the blogpost on Europeana, written by CRDI – Ajuntament de Girona, at this link.

London (UK), 4-6 November 2025

Languages & The Media 2026: “Moving Images That Move Audiences: Localising with Intent”

Languages & The Media, the Biennial International Conference on Audiovisual Language Transfer in the Media, is gearing up for its 16th edition, scheduled from November 4 to 6, 2025, at Senate House, University of London, UK.

Under the theme Moving Images That Move Audiences: Localising with Intent, Languages & The Media 2026 will explore the real impact of localisation and accessibility on storytelling, audience engagement, and cultural exchange. In a moment of rapid change and technological disruption, this anniversary edition will provide space to reflect on some of the defining questions of the their industry:

What is the core purpose?
Is it possible balance speed, scale, and quality?
What roles should human creativity and emerging technologies play in the future of media localisation?

The event will be anticipated by three days of pre-conference workshops, expert panels, pioneering research, and essential networking, as bringing together content creators, broadcasters, translators, subtitlers, dubbing professionals, accessibility advocates, language service providers, professional associations, educators, researchers, and technology developers.

Lugano, 23-24-25 October 2025

SECreTOUR Beyond Borders: a very successful event

The SECreTOUR initiatives named Beyond Borders run successfully from 22 to 25 October 2025.

On the first day (22/10/2025), the partners of SECreTOUR met with representives of the sister projects that participate in the Cluster: CULTURALITY, CROCUS and TOURAL to discuss and plan the next joint events in 2026-2027 and to address the key question of the sustainability of their network.

Cluster meeting: SECreTOUR, CULTURALITY, CROCUS and TOURAL

The day was completed in the evening with a very interesting presentation of the case of Planhotel Resorts and Hotels on the theme of “Food, Tourism and Hospitality: how do they fit together”.

Keynote: “Food, Tourism and Hopitality: how do they fit together” by Sara Rosso Cipollini and Carmine Garzia

On the second day (23/10/2025), the public workshop on Cross-Border Collaboration and Macro-Regions for Cultural Tourism was held at the Swiss Diamond Hotel “La Romantica”, member of the SECreTOUR Network of Common Interest and organiser of the SECreTOUR Botanical Garden ispired by the rich biodiversity of Monte San Giorgio.

SECreTOUR Botanical Garden at Swiss Diamond Hotel, Meride

The wonderful location was made available to host a very successful meeting where projects’ partners, international institutions, policy makers and local stakeholders presented their views about sustainable tourism in rural destinations and the challenges of cross-border promotion.

Prof. Lorenzo Cantoni of USI is opening the SECreTOUR workshop

On the third day (24/10/2025), the participants in the workshop visited the sites of the Monte San Giorgio SECreTOUR pilot following the Miraculous Catch itinerary, developed through a crossing border path that started in Riva San Vitale and Meride (in Switzerland) to Porto Ceresio (in Italy), and eventually the arrived to Morcote (back to Switzerland).

Riva San Vitale

Historic houses in Meride

Starting of the trail from Meride to the top of Monte San Giorgio

On the border between Switzerland and Italy

Arrival to Morcote

The Municipality of Morcote, member of the SECreTOUR Network of Common Interest, hosted at the end of the day a lively encounter with local stakeholders where the integrated plan promoted by the Municipality was confronted with challenges and results connected with concrete innovative initiatives carried out by local enterprises.

Encounter with stakeholders hosted by the Municipality of Morcote

On the fourth day (25/10/2025), the Beyond Borders Hackathon took place in Lugano, organised by SECreTOUR in collaboration with Europeana, Photoconsortium International Association, the UNESCO Chair of the Università della Svizzera Italiana in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites and the UNESCO Chair of the University of Genoa in Anthropology of Health, Biosphere and Healing Systems, all members of the SECreTOUR Network of Common Interest. Two groups of students met with representatives of SECreTOUR partners and experts from USI to use the images taken from the europeana.eu platform to design new creative applications. In a few hours they were able to present to the appointed international Jury very interesting approaches, where physical and digital interactions have been proposed to promote cultural experiences in rural destinations.

Beyond Borders Hacakthon: participants, international jury members and organisers

SECreTOUR is a research and innovation action funded under the Horizon Europe Programme of the EU.

Follow SECreTour online also on the SECreTour project’s website.

The Winter School, dedicated to advancing the use of 3D technologies in cultural heritage, takes place in Brussels, 21-23 January 2026

EUreka3D-XR presented at the 3D-4CH Winter School

EUreka3D initiative is invited in the Winter School organized by the 3D-4CH Competence Centre project, on 21 January, in Brussels and online: a keynote talk by project coordinator Antonella Fresa will present the openly accesible resources available to all CH professionals developed since 2023: the EUreka3D Data Hub, a EU-based platform for safe storage, management and sharing of 3D assets, and the Step to Success digitization guidelines step-by-step derived from the EU VIGIE Study 2020/654. Additionally, the most recent developments of the project in the realm of XR tools will be shared, showcasing the 5 tools for XR creation and the 3 demonstration scenarios in France, Spain and Cyprus.

The programme of the Winter School features a dynamic mix of keynote lectures, a comprehensive hands-on workshop, and collaborative sessions, tailored for museum professionals, digitisation experts, and cultural heritage practitioners at all levels of experience. The event is part of the Twin it! Part II campaign organized by the Europeana Foundation and the European Commission.

More information, programme and registration: https://www.3d4ch-competencecentre.eu/trainings/3d-4ch-winter-school

Design innovative, immersive environments that inspire change.

Build with Bits (BWB) – 5th Edition

Build with Bits (BwB) is an international online experience, where participants learn how to create virtual environments that generate a positive impact on local issues related to digital culture, education, and this year, we will have a special focus on sustainable tourism.

Join a virtual environment any digital interface where a group of users can remotely collaborate in order to produce, design, edit, publish and/or communicate a creation made by themselves from scratch or from previous digitized assets. A virtual environment is created through the combination of multiple technologies and tools.

Europeana is looking for three projects from different European cities to join Build with Bits 5, which will take place during the first months of 2026.

The call is open until 31 December 2025. After the project selection, we will open a second call to recruit collaborators who will help bring the chosen ideas to life.

By joining Build with Bits, you will:

Receive free training in the design, building, and mediation of virtual environments.
Upskill with new digital tools and creative methods.
Connect with international peers and experts.
Bring to life a project that might otherwise stay on paper.
Strengthen open innovation practices within your institution.
Obtain a certificate of participation.
Gain visibility and the chance to scale up your project.
Learn strategies to engage new and existing audiences.
Create an artistic output validated by an acknowledged institution.