Cultural Heritage Innovation: needs, opportunities, and future synergies

The ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence hosted an engaging workshop, bringing together prominent speakers and experts to discuss the preservation and monitoring of cultural heritage through advanced technologies. Key sessions highlighted innovative approaches used to protect Cyprus’ rich historical assets. This workshop was part of the tasks carried out under WP5.

The morning sessions began with Dr. Kyriacos Themistocleous, External Affairs & Business Development Director at the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence, who presented the center’s cultural heritage activities (09:20 – 09:40). Following this, Dr. Dante Abate, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the center, discussed the semi-automatic identification of cultural heritage looting activities using Earth Observation technologies (09:40 – 10:00), showcasing solutions to combat illegal activities threatening archaeological sites.

Later, Chrysanthos Pissarides, President of the Cyprus Branch of ICOMOS, explored architectural documentation methods for cultural heritage monuments (10:00 – 10:20). Eur. Ing. Platonas Stylianou then examined the static and seismic challenges faced by the Gothic Church of Panagia Karmiotissa in the medieval town of Famagusta (10:20 – 10:40).

The workshop also included discussions on the integration of modern engineering technologies in archaeological excavations and the preservation of cultural heritage. It concluded with a round table discussion at 12:40, encouraging collaboration among professionals and stakeholders in the field of cultural heritage preservation.