Digital meets Culture

the meeting of the Expert Group is organized on 4-5 July with a focus on projects that received grants under the Digital Europe Programme

EUreka3D presented at Commission Expert Group on the common European Data Space for Cultural Heritage

The 4th Meeting of the Commission Expert Group on the common European Data Space for Cultural Heritage is taking place online on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 July 2023.

The first day includes a session dedicated to the projects financed to support the Data space for Cultural Heritage under the Digital Europe Programme: EUreka3D, DE-BIAS, 5Dculture, AI4Europeana. All the projects presented and discussed progress and achievements so far, also exchanging knowledge. The networking with the other projects related to the Data Space started already, by initiative of EUreka3D coordinator Photoconsortium, during a collaboration session organized on 24 January 2023.

EUreka3D was presented by project coordinator Antonella Fresa explaining its progress and results in the first semester of work, with a focus on the project’s expected outcomes and contribution to the data space. It was clear that EUreka3D is very well fitting the current EU policies, with regard to the development of the Data Space for Cultural Heritage, the 3D digitization effort required in the coming period and the need of sharing the recommendation for high quality digitization according to the VIGIE Study 2020/654. In the developments of EUreka3D it is also evident the link to the EOSC European Open Science Cloud and to the aims of the new programme for creating the ECCCH EuropeanaCollaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage.

Download Antonella’s presentation (PDF, 1 Mb)

On the second day, a session was dedicated to the 3D campaign coordinated by Europeana Foundation, to present the first achievements and plans for improving the amount and quality of 3D cultural collections with the TwinIt! campaign. The scope of the campaign is to invite Member States join forces and create a pan-european collection of key 3D models of cultural heritage in Europe, to be shared on the Data Space for Cultural Heritage.

TWIN IT! 3D FOR EUROPE’S CULTURE from Europeana on Vimeo.

A doctoral research focuses on improving the processes of data acquisition, processing, and sharing within archaeological excavation sites

Photogrammetry for archaeology, a research at Bibracte

While photogrammetry has numerous diverse applications, its usage in archaeology has become standardized in the majority of cases. The main objective is to replace traditional archaeological surveys in plan, section, and elevation with the production of ortho-images, known as orthomosaics.

Bibracte is no exception to this digital transformation. That is why Quentin Verriez’s doctoral research, conducted in partnership with the University of Franche-Comté at Bibracte since 2018, focuses on improving the processes of data acquisition, processing, and sharing within archaeological excavation sites. The thesis defense is scheduled for the year 2023.

A significant part of this research has concentrated on orthophotographic surveying through photogrammetry applied to archaeological heritage. The outcomes of this study have been documented and published as a combined publication in both print and web formats.

The online version is available for open access at the following address: https://books.openedition.org/pufc/50613

While currently only available in French, an English version is being prepared for online release. This guide aims to provide archaeology students and professionals with a complete protocol—from field acquisition to data storage— that is proven, reproducible, and entirely based on scientific tools that are free and open-source.

The guide is the first installment in a new collection by the University Press of Franche-Comté. As part of the activities of EUreka3D capacity building and knowledge sharing, Bibracte is leveraging this collaboration for showcasing the work of EUreka3D within the French archaeological community and for engaging relevant stakeholders.

Twin it! 3D for Europe’s culture: a call to EU Member States for a pan-European collection of 3D-digitised heritage assets

EUreka3D supports ‘Twin it! 3D for Europe’s culture’ campaign on 3D collections of cultural heritage

TWIN IT! 3D FOR EUROPE’S CULTURE from Europeana on Vimeo.

Joining the effort of creating and sharing more 3D digitized collections of heritage in Europe, EUreka3D is happy to promote the new campaign ‘Twin it! 3D for Europe’s culture’, launched by the European Commission and the Europeana Initiative.

This is a campaign under the auspices of the Swedish and Spanish Presidencies of the Council of the EU, culminating during the Belgian Presidency, calling on EU Member States for creating a pan-European collection of 3D-digitised heritage assets.

This cross-presidency campaign aims to mobilise each of the 27 EU Ministries in charge of culture to submit one 3D digitised heritage asset to the common European data space for cultural heritage, deployed by the Europeana Initiative. The campaign runs from 21 June 2023 – under the Swedish Presidency – and will continue under Spain’s Presidency in the second half of the year. It will come to an end during Belgium’s Presidency in mid-2024.

Under Twin it!, the scope is to collect and showcase emblematic and high-quality samples of Europe’s cultural assets digitised in 3D. Read more: twinit3D.europeana.eu

Barcelona, 15-16 June 2023

UNCHARTED Co-creation workshop in Barcelona

The second co-creation workshop of the UNCHARTED project took place in Barcelona, at Centre d’Estudis i Recursos Culturales, on 15-16 June 2023.

Members of the Advisory Board, invited stakeholders and partners of the consortium participated actively in the event.

The full programme of the workshop is available for download from the project’s website.

The workshop, led by UB, the project coordinator, in collaboration with CNRS, lead partner of WP4, and ELTE, lead partner of WP5, was the occasion to review the progress of the work.

The research conducted in the first three work plackages (WP1, WP2 and WP3) is concluded and their outcomes represent the basis for the work conducted in the latest two work packages (WP4 and WP5) that are still ongoing.

WP4 is studying the central challenge of assessing strategies and effectiveness of cultural policy and institutions in taking full advantage of the potential benefits of culture for society.

WP5 is running a programme of experimental demonstrations around three axes:

Cultural strategic planning
Culture-led urban regeneration
Cultural information systems

The next plenary meeting of UNCHARTED will be held in Budapest at the beginning of December 2023.

the meeting discussed common challenges and different solutions in the sustainable development of territories, and enables networking with stakeholders in the tourism research

INCULTUM in Denmark: meeting the Association for Tourism Researchers

Partner CBS Copenhagen Business School participated in the meeting of Association for Tourism Researchers in Denmark presenting INCULTUM project on Friday 9th June 2023. The meeting meeting discussed common challenges and different solutions in the sustainable development of territories and was also occasion of networking with the many experts and scholars, including researchers from Zealand.

Zealand Academy of Technologies and Business is a self-governed public Academy under the supervision of the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, similar to a University of applied sciences, where to date approximately 3,000 students study.

Zealand offer a wide range of professional undergraduate programs within business, marketing, multimedia design, IT/computer science and logistics, attracting young talents to the Greater Copenhagen region and we aim to facilitate a world of education where our students can build and grow their competences to match the competitive labour market.

As a result of this encounter, Zealand has expressed interest in joining INCULTUM Stakeholders group.

online, 23 June 2023 h. 14 CEST

Be.CULTOUR webinar: Community-led and innovative entrepreneurship for circular cultural tourism

The Be.CULTOUR project, focused on enhancing cultural heritage and landscape values for sustainable cultural tourism, is launching a new series of webinars to boost peer learning among its Community of Interest and other followers. Given that Be.CULTOUR and INCULTUM established a cooperation agreement for cross-dissemination and knowledge exchange, the webinar series is promoted also via the INCULTUM channels and and in the INCULTUM network.

Various experts and on-field stakeholders are invited to present and discuss their innovative ideas, their progress and their challenges concerning cultural tourism and beyond. In this webinar, INCULTUM cases will be presented by the Network and Dissemination manager Antonella Fresa.

Webinar 5: Community-led and innovative entrepreneurship for circular cultural tourism – 23 June 2023

14.00-14.05 Antonia Gravagnuolo | CNR Institute of Heritage Science Welcome and introduction
14:05-14.20 Eva Leemet | CEO of Loov Eesti – Creative Estonia
14:20-14:35 Antonella Fresa | Promoter s.r.l., Communication and Dissemination manager at INCULTUM project
14:35-14:40 Break
14:40-14:55 Anna Salvagio | Vice president and experience manager of the Diffused Museum of 5 Senses of Sciacca, First Prize ECTN Award 2022
14:55-15:10 Antonio Della Corte | “La Paranza” Cooperative, Catacombs of San Gennaro, Naples
15:10-15:20 Hanna Szemző | Metropolitan Research Institute
15:20-15:30 Q&A and concluding remarks

The webinar will address the challenges and opportunities of community-led entrepreneurship for circular cultural tourism. By sharing experiences of projects and initiatives operating in European regions, it will discuss the great potential of less-know and peripheral destinations in which cultural assets and local resources are co-managed by communities and stakeholders. Through the case studies, we will reflect on how engaging community capacity for collective care of cultural heritage could represent a key driver in fostering innovative entrepreneurship and sustainable social, cultural, and economic development.

Registration is accessible from https://becultour.eu/becultour-webinars

The list of all other topics addressed includes:

Understanding the European value of cultural heritage: Power of networks – 24 March 2023
Innovative solutions for circular cultural tourism – 21 April 2023
Values-based innovative marketing for less-known cultural tourism destinations – 15 May 2023
Community-led and innovative entrepreneurship for circular cultural tourism – 23 June 2023
Creative tourism and the role of arts, interpretation and storytelling – September 2023
Circular economy implementation in the tourism sector – October 2023
Innovative finance for circular cultural tourism – November 2023
Smart data management for circular cultural tourism assessment and monitoring – December 2023

Relevant information will be published in due time on the website of the project here.

Be.CULTOUR stands for “Beyond CULtural TOURism: heritage innovation networks as drivers of Europeanisation towards a human-centred and circular tourism economy”. It expresses the goal to move beyond tourism through a longer-term human-centred development perspective, enhancing cultural heritage and landscape values.

Read more about the project in the official website: https://becultour.eu/

Informative materials highlighting and promoting the diversity of cultural heritage resources in the area are now available for tourists

New visitors’ leaflets launched in the pilot area of the Upper Vjosa valley

Article and images courtesy of Eglantina Serjani (CeRPHAAL)

In April 2023, INCULTUM partner CeRPHAAL in Albania launched new visitor leaflets about the cultural heritage assets of the Upper Vjosa valley. CeRPHAAL is coordinating pilot 8, Vjosa the shared river, aiming at highlighting and promoting the diversity of cultural heritage resources embodied in the mountainous landscape of the Vjosa valley.

In line with this, two leaflets were designed and published, presenting for the first time to the public some of the lost and neglected heritage of the area, such as the Vlach culture, as well as several landmarks related to the Second World War and the Communist Period.

One of the leaflets is an introduction to the historic city of Përmet and its surrounding, accompanied by easy-to-read maps, brief explanatory texts, and images. The second brochure broadcasts historical information about the Vlach – a people who have historically inhabited swathes of the Balkans and are distinguished by their language, which derives from Latin and their ways of living based primarily on pastoral transhumance, whiles also inviting the visitors to hike in the mountains of the Upper Vjosa valley following the footprints of the Vlach nomadic journeys.

During the second half of May, these promotional materials were introduced to the heritage specialist in the tourist office of Përmet and shared with some of the hotels in the city. The materials are now available for the visitors and provided at these locations both in printed and as downloadable versions.

[Show as slideshow]

Historical city of Permet and its surroundings_leaflet Download

Walking-with-the-Vlachs_leaflet Download

Participatory fieldwork continues to restore and valorize rural areas in the Altiplano de Granada

INCULTUM Pilot: cleaning of the acequia Baja de Pitres

text by Elena Correa Jiménez (University of Granada), photos by Rocco Corselli, MEMOLab researcher.

On the 10th of June, the cleaning of the acequia Baja de Pitres (Granada) took place. This activity was organised by the Laboratory of Biocultural Archaeology (MEMOLab UGR) and the Irrigation Community of the irrigation ditches Baja and Alta de Pitres.

Fifty volunteers, including locals, archaeology students, environmental volunteers, etc., took part in the clean-up. The activity consisted of clearing vegetation and soil from this historic irrigation channel, fundamental in shaping the landscape and life of La Taha. This historic canal is about 12 kilometres long, from its source in the Mulhacén river to the Bermejo river.

This initiative is part of the work carried out by MEMOLab in the context of INCULTUM Pilot project, to revalue historical irrigation channels and the irrigation communities that manage them, in order to preserve a cultural and environmental heritage that is fundamental to our landscapes.

Learn more about INCULTUM Pilot 1 – Altiplano de Granada

UNCHARTE representatives met in Volterra with Mayor and Culture Councilor of the town

UNCHARTED study on strategic planning of cultural policy

The representatives of the European project UNCHARTED met in Volterra with the Mayor Giacomo Santi and the Cultural Councellor Prof. Dario Danti on 13 June 2023.

For the UNCHARTED project the team of Promoter S.r.l. was represented by Pietro Masi Administrator, Dr. Antonella Fresa Director of Implementations and Arch. Giulia Fiorentini responsible of the case study on Volterra, together with Prof. Eszter Gyorgy of the ELTE University of Budapest connected online.

The meeting was the occasion of reviewing the progresses of the main case study of the Experimental Demonstrations of UNCHARTED about cultural strategic planning in Volterra, and the experience of its nomination as City of Culture in Tuscany.

Promoter Srl, as leader of the case study, will report to the UNCHARTED Workshop planned in Barcelona on 15-16 June 2023 about the results of the interviews with the group of stakeholders of Volterra conducted during the period of April-May 2023.

The interviews will be followed by an online questionnaire that will be open to the contribution of all the citizens of Volterra during July-August 2023.

The study will conclude at the end of October 2023 with a public event hosted by the Municipality, where results and outcomes will be presented and discussed with the citizenship.

Picture from the meeting

Actions included the cration of new dissemination materials, a training to local stakeholders in Permet, and the continuation of the efforts to reconstruct the heritage of Vlachs minority

INCULTUM Albania pilot latest activities to support cultural tourism in the Upper Vjosa valley

Article and images courtesy of Eglantina Serjani (CeRPHAAL)

Activity 1 – New visitors’ leaflets launched in the pilot area of the Upper Vjosa valley

In April 2023, INCULTUM partner CeRPHAAL in Albania launched new visitor leaflets about the cultural heritage assets of the Upper Vjosa valley, presenting for the first time to the public some of the lost and neglected heritage of the area, such as the Vlach culture, as well as several landmarks related to the Second World War and the Communist Period.