Workshop
Why Digitise the Past in 3D?
From Documentation to Understanding, Preservation, Accessibility and Reuse
About this workshop
3D digitisation has become one of the most transformative technologies in cultural heritage. Yet an important question remains: why do we digitise the past in 3D? Is it simply to create accurate digital replicas, or can these digital assets become powerful tools for research, conservation, education, accessibility, climate resilience, public engagement, artificial intelligence, and future innovation?
This workshop brings together four leading European initiatives working at the forefront of cultural heritage digitisation: HERITALISE, STECCI, CHORAL, and EUreka3D. Through a series of case studies and panel discussions, participants will explore the evolving role of 3D digitisation across the heritage lifecycle, from acquisition and documentation to preservation, interpretation, dissemination, and immersive reuse.
The workshop will demonstrate how 3D data is being used to document endangered heritage, monitor the impacts of climate change, preserve both tangible and intangible cultural assets, improve accessibility to difficult-to-reach sites, and support emerging technologies such as digital twins, knowledge graphs, virtual worlds, extended reality (XR), and artificial intelligence.
By bringing together experts from Horizon Europe, Interreg, and Digital Europe initiatives, the session aims to foster dialogue on the future of heritage digitisation and to address a fundamental question facing the sector: How can 3D digitisation help us not only preserve the past, but also create new opportunities for research, education, creativity, accessibility, and societal engagement?
Participating projects
Four European initiatives
The workshop brings together experts from Horizon Europe, Interreg, and Digital Europe initiatives.
Horizon Europe
HERITALISE
Heritage Buildings and Objects Digitisation & Visualisation within the Cloud
HERITALISE develops next-generation methodologies for digitising tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Combining advanced acquisition technologies, AI-powered processing, semantic enrichment and cloud services, the project supports the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage while creating knowledge-rich digital representations that improve research, conservation, accessibility and reuse.
Visit Project Website(opens in a new tab)Horizon Europe
STECCI
Stone Monument Ensembles and Climate Change Impact
STECCI focuses on protecting medieval stone monuments and cultural landscapes threatened by climate change. Through conservation science, environmental monitoring, 3D digitisation, virtual tours, educational tools and community engagement, the project develops sustainable preservation strategies while increasing public awareness and accessibility across Europe.
Visit Project Website(opens in a new tab)Interreg Italy-Malta
CHORAL
Cultural Heritage fOR AlL
CHORAL enhances access to cultural heritage in Malta and Sicily through innovative digital and physical accessibility solutions. Using high-quality 3D digitisation, virtual reality experiences and sustainable tourism initiatives, the project enables wider participation, particularly for sites that are difficult to access physically.
Visit Project Website(opens in a new tab)Digital Europe
EUreka3D
European infrastructure, quality frameworks and reuse of heritage 3D assets
EUreka3D supports cultural heritage institutions in creating, managing and reusing high-quality 3D digital assets. Through cloud infrastructure, Europeana integration, training programmes and XR tools, the initiative promotes quality digitisation, interoperability, accessibility and innovative reuse of cultural heritage across Europe.
Visit Project Website(opens in a new tab)
Schedule
Session details to be confirmed
The workshop’s date, time, speakers and full schedule within the EuroMed2026 programme will be published once confirmed. All sessions take place online; registration is required.