Conference Agenda

The UNESCO World Heritage site of Delos is an example of exceptional combination of cultural, architectural, and natural beauty. According to a recent study by the Academy of Athens, Delos is one of the 14 heritage sites extremely endangered by climate change and seismicity among 244 UNESCO heritage sites in the Mediterranean.

An integrated system for monitoring the synergistic effects of climate change, air pollution and seismic activity on the island of Delos is being developed by the Academy of Athens in collaboration with the National Observatory Athens and archaeologists, with the support of the Initiative 21 contributing sponsors.

The system includes infrastructure for in-situ and real-time meteorological, air quality, seismic and tide gauge measurements, as well as satellite monitoring, and environmental and seismological modeling, to predict short-term changes in environmental and geophysical conditions on Delos island. In addition, climate change analysis is being performed, including downscaling at very high resolution (1kmx1km) over Delos of climate models results with projections to the end of the 21^st century. Combining state-of-the-art modelling and monitoring systems will allow the detailed recognition of current and future geo-environmental effects and potential hazards for the decision of timely and effective actions to be taken to preserve the Outstanding Universal Value of Delos and its monuments. This effort calls for multi-disciplinary and inter-sectoral collaborations involving stakeholders (e.g. archaeological service, local authorities, etc) and the society.

The integrated system and overall framework of implementation aim to act as new model, to be transferred to heritage sites around the world, for how we can confront the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation for heritage preservation. The system set-up and first analysis results will be presented at the workshop.

Due to the pandemic, according to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, as of early April 2021, 71% of the 1,121 World Heritage sites had been closed, while 18% were only partially open. The unprecedented pandemic experience changed and is still changing how we look at, understand, and visit our Heritage. What future and which technologies can reshape awareness, preservation, and fruition? Moreover, the climate change challenge poses an urgent need for action in preserving cultural sites. To date, the Copernicus family and the ESA Contributing Missions can support heritage management during emergencies and make mapping, monitoring, and preserving cultural heritage a daily routine. The engagement of multi- and inter-disciplinary communities to fill the gap between experts (remote sensing, Cultural Heritage managers, AI experts, social scientists, civil protection, and actors from impact sectors) represents a key factor for strengthening the communication and the collaborations between EO experts and Heritage managers as well as the connection between the data providers and the end-users /site managers.

The present study will investigate a specific potential consequence of climate change impacts on archaeological landscapes identified through a multi-disciplinary approach. Ground deformation and subsidence are addressed, focusing on Copernicus SAR data exploitation for multi-temporal monitoring of the archeological area of Gabii (Rome, Italy). In particular, the analysis focuses on the ground movement values through both the EGMS (European Ground Motion Service) records and its temporal update using the on-demand ground motion services over the same area. The measured values record a movement that is a risk of a disaster for the archaeological area. The application of cracking meters, a direct consequence of this analysis, confirms remote sensing data.

Specific geologic formation and ancient human settlement led to a very particular archaeological situation in the ancient city of Gabii: a site on the southeastern rim of the Castiglione crater that may deserve to be included in UNESCO Heritage.

Topics about prioritizing resources pass through scientists' capacity to communicate how important this site is for cultural heritage and why the hydrogeologic risk is attempting to be a potential disaster.

In recent years, satellite EO (Earth Observation) technology has represented a primary source of geo-information to support national and local authorities and conservation institutions in managing and monitoring main Heritage sites. The Copernicus Programme can play a significant role in helping the process of monitoring also “minor” cultural heritage sites and cultural landscapes as well as supporting their associated management.

Looting of archaeological sites is a global problem with severe consequences for security, the economy, and cultural preservation. Monitoring these activities is crucial to protecting cultural heritage, especially in inaccessible areas obscured by dense vegetation or conflict.

The OPTIMAL (OPtimal Transport for Identifying Marauder Activities on LiDAR) project seeks to combat the illegal excavation of cultural heritage sites by developing two machine learning unsupervised approaches based on optimal transport and implicit neural representation. These methods aim to automatically detect past and present looting through airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) point cloud time series. LiDAR technology is essential for revealing looting-related features that would otherwise be obscured by vegetation.

Optimal transport theory measures differences between data distributions over time and assesses changes in terrain, particularly the depth of looting pits, which is essential for understanding site degradation. Concurrently, implicit neural representations—a powerful tool for continuously modelling point clouds—enable the detection and reconstruction of the precise shapes of looting features. By capturing detailed geometric information, these representations reveal the contours and forms of looted areas, offering a clearer view of the damage.

Integrating these techniques provides a comprehensive analysis that enables archaeologists and stakeholders to detect the shape and depth of looting pits. This approach significantly advances efforts to protect cultural heritage, offering a powerful new tool to combat looting, which threatens historical artefacts and the foundations of modern society.

For almost 10 years, VisioTerra has been developing and improving the HEDAVI (HEritage DAta VIsualisation) application, which enables users to retrieve, process on-the-fly, share and export processed data from heritage missions (ERS SAR, Envisat MERIS, Envisat ASAR) and from third-party missions (Landsat-4/5 TM, Landsat-7 ETM+, ALOS-1 PALSAR, ALOS-1 AVNIR2). HEDAVI also supports several Sentinel datasets from the Copernicus programme (Sentinel-1 C-SAR, Sentinel-3 OLCI and Sentinel-3 SLSTR), demonstrating the continuity of ESA's efforts in the field of Earth Observation.
The presentation covers several UNESCO sites observed since 1990 by ESA missions and instruments in the optical and radar domains. These long-term observations allow monitoring World Heritage sites and their environment. Several sites are the subject of a story that can be found in HEDAVI Discover. On-the-fly processing is available in HEDAVI Explorer, enabling users to create and share their own stories.
The sites covered in this paper include the Sundarbans mangroves between Bangladesh and India. The heavy sediment load of the Gange causes accretion on the banks of the channels and the formation of islands while erosion of the sea causes some land area to disappear in other parts of islands and channels. Heritage missions are able to highlight this dynamic.
Another such UNESCO site is the famed Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, France. It is a tidal island that has recently struggled to maintain its island character. River work including dams have been added on nearby rivers to return the site to its island nature. HEDAVI allows assessing the results of these efforts along time.
The last UNESCO site studied here is the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra in Indonesia that encompasses three national parks. These rainforests, home to a large biodiversity including orangutans, are subject to deforestation. This phenomenon is visible comparing heritage data and more recent images.

Earth observation (EO) data as an early warning system can make a decisive contribution to cultural heritage (CH) preservation. However, there is still a lack of awareness of the opportunities and – even more important – missing knowledge about how to use it because the CH workforce is not yet qualified to record, analyse and take precautionary measures. With the SATCULT project (“SATCULT – Closing a knowledge gap by vocational training about satellite-based services in cultural heritage preservation”), for the first time, the conditions under which cultural heritage organisations would be able to acquire the necessary knowledge through vocational training will be investigated and recorded. Funded by the European ERASMUS+ scheme, this is an opportunity to make the targeted groups, networks, and initiatives from CH preservation and their training providers aware of the immense potential of EO data analysis and translating the data into concrete action in heritage preservation.

Despite the urgency, there is currently no vocational training programme that can provide qualifications. But without the use of EO data, the CH sector will be at the mercy of the consequences of climate change. EO data could be used, e. g., to mitigate and prevent climate disasters (drying out, flooding, storm and hail damage of heritage sites) by early decisions on preventive measures. Another application is e.g. to assess the destruction caused by acts of war and prepare for damage assessment and reconstruction. For the heritage community, this means a strategic shift towards training that is not yet offered in academic education.

Coordinated by the German social enterprise media k GmbH, a German-Italian-Cypriot partnership focuses on practical support measures:

- Identification of the qualification needs of staff in public and private CH institutions by a Europe-wide survey,

- Recording of EO-based examples in the protection of CH in a brochure in the “language” of the CH community showing herewith the benefits of accessing and using EO data,

- Definition of the learning content and required skills for benefitting from the data,

- Communication of the EO possibilities to around 6000 European CH institutions, 250 geoinformation specialists, and 200 training providers for cooperative measures,

- Set up of a pool of European EO experts who would be willing and able to support CH institutions in respective preventive measures.

The outcome of this project will be closely linked to the ERASMUS+ Sector Skills Alliance CHARTER as the Alliance is preparing recommendations for the future needed skills in CH preservation. As media k staff members are actively involved in CHARTER (which is currently the most important European initiative linked to future skills in the CH sector), the outcome of SATCULT will directly feed into future training schemes.

UNESCO-designated sites, recognised for their outstanding universal value, require stringent protection to preserve cultural and natural heritage for future generations. The integration of digital geomedia, including remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and mobile geotools, into the daily operations of site managers offers significant potential for monitoring, modelling, and visualising these sites. To ensure the effective application of digital geomedia, it is essential to develop capacity-building initiatives that cater to the specific needs of stakeholders. For this purpose, an international needs assessment was conducted to determine the requirements and existing knowledge of stakeholders at UNESCO-designated sites. The assessment, distributed via email, received responses from 134 participants worldwide. The survey results indicate that while stakeholders are employing digital geomedia to some extent, there is a strong demand for additional training focused on specific use cases, such as vegetation mapping or advanced software instructions, rather than introductory content. Participants named equipment and financial resources as the primary constraints in using remote sensing, with data acquisition and theoretical knowledge as further barriers. Additionally, two pilot courses were conducted in Malawi and Costa Rica. These courses were evaluated before and after the training sessions, as well as through a follow-up survey conducted 18 months later using a mixed-method approach. The evaluation showed an increase in participants’ perceived knowledge across all areas of digital geomedia, with the highest level immediately after the courses and sustained improvement and active application of acquired skills 18 months later. The results from the international needs assessment, along with insights gained from the pilot courses, will inform the creation of more specialised training programs. These programs aim to empower stakeholders at UNESCO-designated sites to proficiently use digital geomedia for the sustainable management of these sites.