Solving public, political, and administrative problems with 3D digital documentation.

Victor Manuel LOPEZ-MENCHERO BENDICHO | Herbert D. G. MASCHNER | Pierre-Yves GAGNIER | Laurent COSTA
(Global Digital Heritage, Ciudad Real, Spain)

Keywords: 3D, Cultural Heritage, Digital Heritage, Virtual Archaeology, Public Administration.

Abstract:
In recent years it has become clear that the three-dimensional digitization of cultural heritage is helping to improve the current processes of research, conservation and dissemination of numerous monuments and sites. However, it is rarely discussed about the wide possibilities that this digitalization has to solve public, political, and administrative problems. The works developed by Global Digital Heritage in numerous monuments and archaeological sites in Spain and France have shown that the three-dimensional digitization of cultural heritage can influence the political, social and cultural sphere of a territory. This influence manifests itself through a set of transformations or changes in attitude on the part of both citizens and politicians, whose consequences are very diverse. Without any doubt, the immediate consequence and of greater transcendence that our work has had is that which has to do with the value that citizens and politicians give to heritage. Everyone knows that you cannot value what you do not know. The 3d digitalization makes the cultural heritage available to most people, including many monuments and sites that cannot be visited. In this way citizens can know their heritage and value it. It also allows to draw attention to the so-called emerging assets or new assets. These are assets that until very recent dates were not considered as part of the cultural heritage due to their lack of antiquity but nevertheless present a great historical interest. This has been the case of the Alhama de Murcia bunker (Murcia, Spain), a forgotten vestige of the defensive military architecture of the Spanish Civil War, and at the jails of the Ancient Régime of the towns of Picón and Villarrubia de los Ojos (Ciudad Real, Spain). A critical byproduct has been in education using virtual reality, and the creation of exhibits for the visually impaired using 3D prints.

Relevance for the conference: The creation of digital heritage assets that go beyond science, history, and documentation to the realms of public outreach, public administration, education, and accessibility is the key to the future of digital heritage.
Relevance for the session: Public access and global use of historical data has been the cornerstone of the Global Digital Heritage mission.
Innovation: This review demonstrates the concept of democratizing science, heritage, and cultural assets for use by all people.
References:
• Rizzo & A. Mignosa (Eds.), 2013. Handbook on the economics of cultural heritage. Cheltenham, England: Edward Elgar.
• Luigina Ciolfi, Areti Damala, Eva Hornecker, Monika Lechner, Laura Maye (editors). 2018. Cultural Heritage Communities: Technologies and Challenges. Routledge.