Preserving and enhancing cultural heritage with advanced digital technologies

Closed

Programme Category

EU Competitive Programmes

Programme Name

Horizon Europe (2021-2027)

Programme Description

Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.

Programme Details

Identifier Code

HORIZON-CL2-2021-HERITAGE-01-04

Call

Preserving and enhancing cultural heritage with advanced digital technologies

Summary

Digital technologies, from 3D simulation to artificial intelligence and virtual/augmented reality, are being used to ensure preservation and wide access to cultural heritage and the arts. Τhere is a need to expand and further support the application of digital tools to preserve cultural heritage and to make it widely accessible. The relation between cultural heritage and its digitised format through the experience of audiences is of particular interest. 

Detailed Call Description

The role played by digital during the recent COVID-19 pandemic crisis is especially noteworthy, as it proved to be the most valuable means to access cultural assets during the extended period of confinement. By assessing the role of digitisation in engaging with culture and cultural heritage during the COVID-19 crisis, they should draw lessons and provide resilient policy scenarios or recovery tools for the cultural and creative sectors in a post-crisis era. 

R&I actions under this topic are envisaged to promote extended digitisation so that collections, artefacts and monuments, including the “born digital” heritage, can be preserved, restored and safeguarded in a sustainable and user-friendly way.
Research should prevent any potential negative consequence of doing so. In addition, digitisation practices have to comply with intellectual property law, in particular copyright law. They should develop digital facilities that will allow building shared infrastructures, provide specialised trainings and courses and facilitate knowledge and know-how exchange to address real needs in the field of cultural heritage. Projects should thus increase the use of existing tools and cutting-edge technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality or artificial intelligence, to reduce access and knowledge limitations to cultural assets.

By creating new or fostering existing tools, they should aim at boosting the socio-economic sustainability of cultural and creative industries in the COVID-19 post-crisis period and provide sustainable applications and solutions to strengthen their innovation potential as well as manage future crises. This requires collaboration between technological firms, research institutes, universities and cultural and creative sectors/industries to generate tailor made know-how and transfer expertise to foster the digital transformation of Cultural Heritage institutions.

Data and products coming from the Copernicus services, specifically Copernicus Emergency, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring, Climate Change and Copernicus Land Monitoring Services can give a great support in preserving cultural and natural heritage sites.

Call Total Budget

€12,00 million

Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan

100%

EU contribution per project:  between €3,50 and € 4,00 million

Thematic Categories

  • Culture
  • Information Technology
  • Natural and Cultural Heritage
  • Research, Technological Development and Innovation

Eligibility for Participation

  • Associations
  • Local Authorities
  • NGOs
  • Non Profit Organisations
  • Private Bodies
  • Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
  • State-owned Enterprises

Eligibility For Participation Notes

If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

Call Opening Date

22/06/2021

Call Closing Date

07/10/2021

National Contact Point(s)

Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia
P.O.Box 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Phone Number: +357 22205000
Email Address: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/

Contact Persons:
Ms Constantina Makri
Scientific Officer
Contact Phone: +357 22 205 054
Contact Email: cmakri@research.org.cy

Ms Katerina Karakasidou
Scientific Officer
Contact Phone: +357 22 205 036
Contact Email: kkarakasidou@research.org.cy

(Publish Date: 29/07/2021-for internal use only)