Digital meets Culture

The study is conducted is part of the study “AI-Assisted Digitization of Documentary Heritage Materials.” and InterPARES Trust AI research project

Results and conclusions of “Report on the Survey ‘Digitization and Artificial Intelligence for Archives and Documentary Heritage Materials'” survey

Following a survey that had as an objective to investigate how AI is impacting digitization of archives and documentary heritage collections across different institutions, a study was published under the name of “Report on the Survey ‘Digitization and Artificial Intelligence for Archives and Documentary Heritage Materials'”.

The survey measured the state of digitization within organizations and assesses the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on digitization activities. The survey is part of the study “AI-Assisted Digitization of Documentary Heritage Materials.” The broader study is conducted as part of InterPARES Trust AI (2021-2026), an international, multi-disciplinary research project with over 100 partner institutions and individual collaborators around the world.

The study seeks to explore the main ways that AI tools may support digitization processes, and is guided by ethical approaches to the uses and development of AI, and concludes that, while the potential benefits of AI for digitization purposes may be significant, it is critical for organizations to systematically assess and understand the risks of using AI for digitization, including ways to mitigate the risks.

Read the study here.

By the Memory Twin and the EU HERITALISE Project, from the Unesco Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage at Cyprus University of Technology

Invitation to participate in the Online Survey “Shaping the future of heritage digitisation”

Dear Colleague,

The UNESCO Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage at Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus invites you to contribute to an important 15-minute survey exploring the future of cultural heritage digitisation. Building on the European Commission-funded VIGIE2020/654 study on quality in 3D digitisation, and the ongoing EU funded Horizon project – HERITALISE this new initiative seeks to go beyond Digital Twins by introducing the Memory Twin concept—an evolution of 3D digitisation that integrates data, metadata, paradata, and interpretative layers within a broader organisational and strategic framework.

This survey will run until the 31st of May 2025. Your insights will help assess institutional readiness, uncover barriers and opportunities, and inform future strategies and policies for capacity building and cross-sector collaboration. Whether you are a curator, researcher, technologist, or policymaker, your input will directly influence the development of next-generation standards and methodologies for digital cultural heritage.

The survey can be taken here.

We thank you in advance for your valuable contribution to shaping the future of heritage digitisation.

Best Regards
The UNESCO Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage, Heritage Malta, the Memory Twin Alliance & the HERITALISE project research team.

For correspondence on this survey please use the contact email Mnemosyne@cut.ac.cy

Fashion as a connection to local culture - a new report from UN Tourism and Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI)

Focusing on fashion to enhance the tourism experiences

Destinations are increasingly focusing on fashion to enhance the tourism experiences and empower local communities, especially among indigenous populations, as well as small-scale creators and businesses. A new report from UN Tourism and Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI) makes clear that tourists themselves still need to have a greater awareness of responsible behaviour and deeper appreciation for specific cultural contexts, through education and engagement.

Despite the growth of globalization and e-commerce, fashion-related products such as textiles, jewellery, perfumes, and accessories, still hold the greatest value when purchased at their destinations of origin. These items are more than souvenirs—they are powerful storytellers that connect travellers to the culture, history, and identity of places they visit.

Drawing on case studies from 11 countries (Indonesia, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and Tanzania), the report:

Shows how fashion and tourism are interwoven to uplift local creators and attract diverse audiences.
Suggests recommendations on how to create win-win synergies between fashion and tourism key players.
Promotes tools that create an enabling environment for these stakeholders to co-create new products, while also addressing marketing strategies, branding and sustainability principles.
Makes clear the need to raise awareness among tourists, encouraging responsible behaviour and deeper appreciation for specific cultural contexts.

By blending traditional fashion expressions with innovation, these examples show different ways the creative industries can serve as a tool for trade opportunities, inclusive growth and cultural exchange, across the globe.

The report Fashion and Cultural Tourism – Connecting Creators, Businesses and Destinations offers an overview of the key concepts and definitions related to creative industries, fashion, and cultural tourism, highlighting how destinations can leverage this synergy to attract visitors while preserving their cultural heritage.

The report is available for free download.

Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) is partner of SECreTour. In addition to coordinate the SECreTour pilot on Monte San Giorgio, it is also home to a UNESCO Chair in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites.

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

April - September 2025, Museo della Grafica, Pisa (IT)

“Passa il Giro. Immagini e racconti di biciclette” – a new photo exhibition

Organized by Museo della Grafica, and open since Saturday April 19th, it is now possible to visit the photographic exhibition “Passa il Giro. Immagini e racconti di bicicletta”, which will remain open until September 30th.

Curated by Professor Alessandro Tosi, the exhibition will be an evocative journey between art and science dedicated to the history, culture and fascination of the bicycle through prints, drawings, sculptures, posters, photographs and historical models.

In the exhibition are included historical photographs harvested from both Europeana and the collection from the Pisan people that carried out in the context of the suggestive All Our Yesterdays photographic exposition (both digital and physical, 2014): the population was called to share the memories kept in their family’s photo albums with the world and now kept in their digitalized version at Promoter Digital Gallery.

29th of May 2025, Villa Salviati, Florence (Italy) and online

Photography and archives: discovery, technology and innovation

Villa Salviati
img. courtesy: Historical Archives of the European Union

On the 29th of May a rich conference will take place, organized in collaboration between Photoconsortium – International Consortium for Photographic Heritage and coordinator of the EUreka3D-XR project, co-funded by the EU under the Digital Europe Programme, and the prestigious Historical Archives of the European Union, the single, official repository for the historical documents of the institutions, bodies and agencies of the European Union, preserving and making available archival documents of EU institutions and private collections of European personalities, key politicians, movements and associations.

The beautiful Villa Salviati will be the venue hosting the event, in the middle of the Tuscanian bucolic countryside, home to thousands of photographs, audio and video recordings, posters and more.

The conference is hybrid.

29th May 2025, h. 10-13.40

REGISTER via this link >>>

Join us for the “Photography and archives: discovery, technology and innovation” conference to explore the evolving landscape of photographic archives through the presentations from our experts.

This half-day event, organized in the context of EUreka3D-XR capacity building effort, brings together professionals from renowned photographic institutions, research centres, and private image banks, to explore the evolving landscape of photographic archives. The three panels on Heritage, Technology, and Innovation aim to foster dialogue among public and private stakeholders involved in the preservation, management, and valorisation of photographic collections, also looking at how new technologies impact the workflow of heritage professionals.

Panelists and participants will have the opportunity to reflect on the challenges and opportunities of photographic information in the digital age. The conference also aims to strengthen professional networks and promote exchange across institutions and fields of expertise.

Photography & Archives: Discovery, Technology and Innovation

9:45 – 10:00 Registration and Welcome coffee

10:00 Welcome
– Dieter Schlenker, Director of the Historical Archives of the European Union

10:15 – 11:15 Panel 1: Heritage
Chair: Antonella Fresa, Vice-President of Photoconsortium

– Erika Ghilardi, Director, Archivio Foto Locchi, Florence
– Scott Palmer, Lecturer and Senior Coordinator for Digital Learning & Innovation, New York University Florence
– Muriel Prandato, Multimedia & Audiovisual Archivist, Fondazione Alinari, Florence

11:15 – 11:30 Coffee Break

11:30 – 12:30 Panel 2: Technology
Chair: Matthias Goetzelmann, European University Institute

– Costanza Caraffa, Head of the Photothek and Rafael Brundo Uriarte, Digital Research Coordinator, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max Planck Institute
– John Balean, Operations Manager, TopFoto
– Juan Alonso, Audio-visual Archivist, Historical Archives of the European Union

12:30 – 13:30 Panel 3: Innovation and Conclusions
Chair: Louise Arizzoli, I Tatti: Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies

– David Iglésias, Head of Photography and Audiovisual Records Department, Girona City Council
– Vincent Guichard, General Director, Bibracte E.P.C.C. Research
– Fred Truyen, Professor, Faculty of Arts and Cultural Studies Research Group, KU Leuven
– Sander Münster, Time Machine Organization

EUreka3D-XR project is co-financed by the Digital Europe Programme of the European Union.

Collaboration agreement has started between the SECreTour project and the Grands Sites de France network, in April 2025

New collaborations of SECreTour with the network of the Grands Sites de France

The SECreTour Network is growing!

Created in November 2000, the Grands Sites de France network is a French association under the law of 1901, which brings together local organisations responsible for the stewardship of the Grands Sites.

The network is a very lively centre where people share their experiences and know-how for the sites. It brings together the sites that have already been awarded the “Grand Site de France” label and those which are less advanced and that are still in the study or remediation stages.

What the sites have in common is that they are all looking for innovative functions that allow quality welcome while respecting the spirit of the sites combined with the generation of positive impact on surrounding local economy.

The network also takes part in national and international reflection on the future of these areas of outstanding natural beauty and heritage site, facing their long-term conservation within the context of growing pressure from tourism.

You can find out more about the Grands Sites de France network oline:

https://www.grandsitedefrance.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/r-seau-des-grands-sites-de-france/posts/?feedView=all

https://www.instagram.com/reseaugrandssitesdefrance/

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

Leuven and online, May 14 2025, 6PM CET

“Culture is Not an Industry – 1 year on” lecture by Justin O’Connor hosted at KU Leuven

Organized by KU Leuven’s Faculty of Arts and hosted by DigitGLAM in cooperation with the European Heritage Hub, Professor Justin O’Connor is invited in Leuven to give a engaging lecture on the role of art and culture in today’s society with his newest book “Culture is Not an Industry”. He will reflect on the state of the creative industries and explore how we can reclaim culture for the common good.

The event will take place both online and on site on 14 May 2025, at 6PM CET.

On the projects scope, results, and future plans

EUreka3D and EUreka3D-XR presented at Europeana Aggregators Forum 2025

During this year’s important event of Europeana Aggregators Forum (9-10 April 2025), Valentina Bachi from Photoconsortium delivered a presentation on both EUreka3D and EUreka3D-XR projects.

The presentation went through EUreka3D project’s achievements with the developing of the EUreka3D Data Hub, the digitization and uploading of more than 350 objects on Europeana, capacity building programme and more. Later, the continuation project EUreka3D-XR was presented, highlighting its aim, its tools, scenarios and future plans.

The event overall had more than 30 people attending online, and many more attended on site.

View and download the presentation here<<<<.

Watch the presentation on Photoconsortium’s Youtube Channel:

EUreka3D-XR project is co-financed by the Digital Europe Programme of the European Union.

How to help: https://gofund.me/8793f0f1

Join the initiative “Salvem les fotos” to help Valencia save their photographic heritage

On October 29 2024, the Valencian Community in Spain was severely affected by an extreme weather event known as DANA (Isolated Depression at High Levels), which unleashed torrential rains, resulting in catastrophic flooding across the region. In eight hours, parts of Valencia received over a year’s worth of rainfall.

As a response to this disaster, conservators in the region took action to help in any way possible. The initiative Salvem les fotos (Save the Photos) was established to salvage photographs of those affected by this catastrophe. This project is led by the University of Valencia, with the support of the five public universities of the Valencian Community, various institutions and museums, the Spanish Association of Conservators and Restorers (ACRE), and the Spanish Group of the International Center for Conservation (GE IIC).

The scope of the initiative goes beyond salvaging family photographs; it seeks to contribute to the healing and resilience within the community by actively involving its members in the recovery tasks, offering them a sense of purpose, connection, and hope during this challenging time. The main goals of the project are to transmit hope and positivism; to foster social cohesion, to contribute to both individual and community well-being, to strengthen the social network within towns and communities and to fill a void with meaningful purpose and significance. In summary, by recovering these photographic memories and family treasures, the initiative aims to help restore the identity and sense of belonging for the affected families, providing meaningful purpose and support during the recovery process will assist in the recovery of their identity of the affected families.

The multidisciplinary and dedicated team of heritage professionals and volunteers who are working across six labs in different locations, safeguarding the treasured memories of nearly 1,000 families.

Photograph conservator Rosina Herrera Garrido writes:

“Right now, our priority is stabilizing the collections by drying or freezing them to prevent mold and further deterioration. Soon, we will begin the process of washing, drying, and treating the most delicate objects. To move forward, we urgently need materials for this next phase, as well as support to compensate the volunteers and experts who have been tirelessly working since November.

This project is entirely free of charge for those affected, but it relies on outside donations to continue. Your support will ensure that we can keep preserving these invaluable family treasures and help restore a sense of identity and hope to those who have lost so much.

Debbie Hess Norris, chair of the Department of Art Conservation at the University of Delaware and Director of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation is raising funds to support our work in recovering photographs and memories of families affected by the #dana in Valencia. Please give now. All gifts at any level are welcome.”

How to help: https://gofund.me/8793f0f1

More information about the project at: https://museuhortasud.com/en/save-the-photos/

Instagram: @rosina.herrera.garrido / @museucomarcalhortasud

Athens (Greece), 9 April 2025

EUreka3D-XR’s specialists to be presenting at TMM-CH 2025 Conference

EUreka3D-XR project will be presented in a Special Panel during the 4th International Conference TMM-CH Transdisciplinary Multispectral Modelling and Cooperation for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage.

The panel is set on 9 April h. 14.30, with specialists in the domain Ioannides Marinos (UNESCO Chair and EUreka3D-XR / HERITALISE projects), Fresa Antonella (EU EUreka3D-XR Project and Photoconsortium’s vice-president), Borras Mikel (EU HERITALISE Project), Anderson Janet (EU eArchiving Project), Cassar Anthony (Heritage Malta), Haynes Ronald (IIIF 3D Standardization) Roumeliotis Stergios (Research Associate, National Technical University of Athens, School of Chemical Engineering) and Doulamis Nikos (Professor, National Technical University of Athens, School of Rural, Surveying and Geoinformatics Engineering) who will present the new concept “From #DigitalTwin to #MemoryTwin: A New Horizon for Cultural Heritage”.

Panel “From Digital Twin to Memory Twin: A New Horizon for Cultural Heritage”, on 9th April 2025

The session is organised by the UNESCO Chair on DCH under the leadership of the EU Digital-Europe EUreka3D-XR project, and is in cooperation with the EU-HE HERITALISE project, Heritage-Malta, the EU eArchiving Initiative and the IIIF-Committee on 3D Standardization.

The Conference will take place on 7-9th of April in Athens, Greece.

DOWNLOAD Antonella Fresa presentation here<<<<

Programme and information at this link.

Conference website: https://www.tmm-ch.com/

EUreka3D-XR project is co-financed by the Digital Europe Programme of the European Union.