Although approaches combining archaeology and archaeometry in the investigation of past records are presently well established, recent technological advances, especially the new IT tools, push for a general update of the consolidated procedures. Researchers and professionals need to develop expertise and skills under new perspectives, to enable a new trans-disciplinary storytelling from the archaeological site to the museum display. BE-ARCHAEO launches a trans-disciplinary approach in the investigation of past social experience registered at archaeological sites, where the involvement of IT experts within an on-the-field interplay between archaeologists and an exhaustive set of interlinked archaeometry experts will enable R&I and will expose the involved individuals to a truly interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral environment, thus improving their career perspectives significantly. The participants, belonging to various domains of archaeology, archaeometry, museology and IT, will commit skills and instruments to the project for performing cutting-edge scientific investigations and for developing the most capturing interactive museum experiences. The Japanese partners will give the opportunity of developing the BE-ARCHAEO approach in a new area of archaeological excavation and will give access to their archaeological collections for investigations and analysis. Bidirectional knowledge transfer among the participants - set up on the tailored Japanese case–study - will lead to the development of cultural heritage professionals with a trans-disciplinary vision of the archaeological records; new procedures for integrated archaeology and archaeometry; new IT tools for storing/retrieving interdisciplinary data and for communicating to the general public the new knowledge stemming by combining archaeology and science. Intersectoral interactions and connections with the stakeholders will keep the research tightly linked to the needs of the final users.

The 4CH project will design and prepare for a European Competence Centre (CC) on the Conservation of Cultural Heritage which will work proactively for the preservation and conservation of cultural heritage (CH). The project aims to start implementing the structure, organization and services of the CC which will operate as a virtual infrastructure providing expertise, advice and services using state-of-the-art ICT with a special focus on 3D technology. A Strategic Advisory Board, including representatives of major national and international CH bodies, will be established to advise on cultural, scientific, technological, financial, strategy and policy areas. 4CH will design and implement the ICT infrastructure of the CC, based on a Cultural Heritage Cloud, compliant with the EOSC vision, to provide an open collaborative digital space for cultural heritage conservation giving access to repositories of data, metadata, standards and guidelines. Access to High Performance Computing service providers will be supported. The core results of 4CH work will comprise of: • a holistic interdisciplinary approach to state-of-the-art 3D documentation of monuments and sites for conservation, preservation, access and exploitation • guidance on policies and strategies • a catalogue of well-documented standards • an inventory of software and tools • guidelines for data acquisition, management and storage • a set of success stories on advanced digitization • advice on funding opportunities • training and education plans for professionals and managers • communication and dissemination of 4CH results • a complete business model and a sustainability plan for the Competence Centre. 4CH will foster the implementation of actions to substantially increase the number and the quality of digitized sites, documents and monuments.