EXCALIBUR Partners Gather Expertise in First WP3 User Workshop

January 2026 – The EXCALIBUR project has successfully conducted its Initial User Workshop as part of Work Package 3 (WP3), marking a critical milestone in the project’s mission to revolutionize the digitization, study, and conservation of burial cultural heritage.

Bringing Together Interdisciplinary Expertise

Co-led by the Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence (ECoE) and the Heritage Management Organisation (HEMO), the workshop brought together cultural heritage experts, archaeologists, anthropologists, conservators, and project partners from across Europe. The primary focus was to define user requirements for digitizing and conserving burial excavations, findings, and human remains, aligning these needs with the overall scope of the EXCALIBUR project.

Why This Workshop Matters

The Initial User Workshop represents the foundation of Task 3.2 (Interdisciplinary user requirements and analysis in burial CH), a crucial component of the project’s implementation plan outlined in the Grant Agreement. This task ensures that the technological solutions developed by EXCALIBUR are firmly rooted in the real-world needs of cultural heritage professionals who will ultimately use them.

According to the project framework, this workshop serves multiple strategic purposes: (i) identifying the expectations and requirements of end-users, (ii) stimulating creative thinking about potential benefits from EXCALIBUR’s technological tools, and (iii) gathering input from diverse specialists including anthropologists, archaeologists, museologists, conservators, curators, and historians.

Key Partner Contributions

The workshop showcased the collaborative nature of the EXCALIBUR consortium:

  • ECoE and HEMO (Workshop Co-Leader): Coordinated the session and will prepare the draft structure for Deliverable D3.1, allocating responsibilities among partners
  • CERTH (Project Coordinators): Provided coordination guidelines and best practices for successful WP3 task execution
  • DUTH, IHU, SMAEK: Presented preliminary needs and requirements from their respective cultural heritage contexts
  • All Partners: Engaged in round-robin discussions to outline their planned contributions to the deliverable

Moving Forward: A Living Framework

The workshop’s outcomes will directly feed into Deliverable D3.1 (State-of-the-Art in study, conservation, and restoration in burial CH, user requirements, and technological challenges), which will be structured as a living, online document. This collaborative approach ensures that all partner expertise, from 3D scanning and CT-scan analysis to AI-powered restoration planning, is integrated into a cohesive framework.

By mid-January 2026, ECoE will share an indicative timeline for the development and submission of D3.1, ensuring that the project stays on track with its ambitious goals.

The Bigger Picture

This initial workshop is the first in a series of demonstration and user engagement events planned throughout the EXCALIBUR project lifecycle. As outlined in the Grant Agreement, these workshops form a crucial part of the project’s interpersonal communication strategy, gathering structured feedback from the User Group and cultural heritage professionals to refine the project’s innovative tools and methodologies.

The insights gathered will directly inform the development of EXCALIBUR’s advanced toolkits for digitization, AI-based analysis, and conservation planning, ultimately contributing to the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH) ecosystem.

Stay Connected: Follow our progress as we work to preserve the past and unveil the future of burial cultural heritage. Join the conversation on our social media channels for updates on upcoming workshops and project milestones.

Contact: For more information about WP3 activities, reach out to Dr. Konstantinos Roussos at the Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence (konstantinos.roussos@eratosthenes.org.cy).

Introduction of EXCALIBUR in ECCCH ecosystem

The EXCALIBUR project participated in the webinar: “The European Collaborative Cultural Heritage Cloud in Action: Join us to explore the latest update”, which was organised by the Directorate General for Research and Innovation, on Monday, 1st of December, 2025.

The EXCALIBUR project was presented by Dr. Eleftherios Anastasovitis, member of the Coordinator team of the Brain, Health & Virtual Reality (BHV) Research Group [1], at CERTH-ITI. The overview of the project was briefly described, presenting the main use cases and objectives of EXCALIBUR. 

Dr. Anastasovitis emphasised the innovative toolkits of the project through the interdisciplinary collaboration of the EXCALIBUR consortium that consists of 14 partners. The toolkits will be developed in full alignment with the requirements and directions of the Cultural Heritage Cloud. Moreover, Dr. Anastasovitis highlighted the future involvement of the European Cultural Heritage community with the outcomes of EXCALIBUR, through the Open Call of the project.

Our next steps include intensive work with the ECHOES Integration Task Force (EITF) and enhancing the collaboration with the ECCCH ecosystem and sister projects.

EXCALIBUR’s kick off meeting

Under the coordination of the interdisciplinary team of the Brain, Health & Virtual Reality (BHV) Research Group [1], the kick-off meeting of the EXCALIBUR project took place in Thessaloniki, Greece. Over a two-day intensive agenda on October 23-24, 2025, the consortium of the EXCALIBUR project met in person at the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas.

The initiation of the project included the overall presentation of the EXCALIBUR, the initial description of the four (4) use cases, and the challenges of the twelve (12) toolkits and methods. The Project Officer of EXCALIBUR provided the guidelines for the successful development and completion of the project. In addition, representatives of the ECHOES mother project introduced the ECCCH ecosystem [2] and welcomed our project.

The EXCALIBUR work plan extends 42 months, and the activities of the project are clustered into thirteen (13) work packages. The technical activities of the project are grouped into four (4) main thematic structures, with WP2 focused on the technical collaboration and clustering with the ECCCH ecosystem, while WP3 focuses on establishing the need analysis and the framework design. WP4 and WP5, as well as WP7 and WP8, address the scientific innovations of the project on advanced study, conservation, and restoration works based on digital twins of burial CH. WP6 and WP9 are dedicated to the interoperable platform architecture design and integration of scientific outcomes on the ECCCH infrastructure. WP10 to WP12 focused on the test project pilots, use cases demonstration activities, open call for funding support to third parties, and training on the innovative solutions of the project. WP13 is aimed at dissemination, communication, and exploitation activities to promote the project outcomes and contribute towards technical standards for interoperability. Finally, WP1 resources are allocated for the project coordination.

After a deeper analysis of the project, the consortium planned the next steps for the technical progress of the project as well as the main guidelines for communication and dissemination of EXCALIBUR. Our common target is the successful development of the project, with the maximum societal and scientific impact. In this direction, EXCALIBUR will collaborate with the ECCCH ecosystem for early adoption of best practices, early knowledge transfer, and to ensure the compliance of the results with the ECCCH infrastructure and framework. The EXCALIBUR project prioritised the setup of its visual identity and online presence.