Under Twin it! (June 2023 – June 2024), the Ministries of Culture of the European Union Member States were invited to liaise with their national cultural institutions to submit at least one 3D digitised heritage asset to the common European data space for cultural heritage. Twin it! 3D was a campaign by the European Commission and the Europeana Initiative, under the auspices of the Swedish and Spanish Presidencies of the Council of the EU, culminating during the Belgian Presidencies.

As of June 2025, we are delighted to run Twin it! Part II, once again in partnership with the European Commission, and during the Polish, Danish and Cypriot Presidencies of the Council of the EU. Twin it! Part II aims to further support EU Member States in their 3D digitisation and preservation efforts — now with a sharper focus on how the digitised assets will be used.

Making cultural heritage available for future generations to enjoy and be inspired by is a major public policy goal in the EU. 3D technologies offer unprecedented opportunities to advance this objective, widening access to culture, supporting digital preservation and fostering the reuse of Europe's cultural assets.

In the 2019 declaration of cooperation on advancing digitisation of cultural heritage, EU Member States recognised the need for ‘a pan-European initiative for 3D digitisation of cultural heritage artefacts, monuments and sites’. The European Commission Recommendation of 2021 on a common European data space for cultural heritage invites EU Member States to ‘digitise in 3D all monuments and sites deemed at risk, 50 % of the most physically visited cultural and heritage monuments, buildings and sites, and pay special attention to specific categories of heritage assets with low level of digitisation’.

As part of Europeana’s work to deploy the common European data space for cultural heritage and to support these policy goals, Twin it! Part I (June 2023 – June 2024), aimed to contribute to a significant and sustained increase of high-quality, usable and accessible 3D content in the data space.

Twin it! united all Member States around a shared goal and sparked strong momentum for 3D digitisation. It resulted in the submission of 37 high-quality 3D models from every EU Member State, plus one guest country. A Twin it! curated exhibition in all EU languages brings them and their stories together. The Twin it! Final event brought together 10 EU Ministers of Culture and other high-level dignitaries, as well as policymakers at European and national levels, experts and innovators.

Twin it! Part II will build on the success of the first campaign phase, advancing the goals of the 2021 Recommendation. It will further unlock the potential of 3D digitisation to spur reuse of cultural data across sectors, enhancing its impact and relevance for diverse audiences, while boosting the competitiveness and innovation in the heritage sector. And it will address the priorities outlined in the Twin it! Call to action: Boosting 3D for Europe's culture by 2030, published as an outcome of the first campaign, notably the need to support purpose-driven 3D digitisation and reuse of 3D content.

In Twin it! Part II, Ministries responsible for Culture are invited to collaborate with their national cultural institutions to submit at least one high-quality 3D-digitised heritage asset to the data space with clear reuse intent. The goal is to collect and showcase 3D samples of Europe’s cultural heritage, highlighting how Member States aim to make practical use of their digitised assets.

Upon submission, Member States will be invited to clearly specify the intended use of the 3D object, and to pursue intentional 3D digitisation. A fit-for-purpose 3D digitised object is one that is digitised and published online with a clear intent — specifically, the intent, aim and scope of the cultural heritage institution that digitised the item.

In addition to submitting the 3D model(s) of the selected heritage asset(s), Member States will be invited to integrate additional data, paradata and metadata. This could include 2D images, documentary and contextual data related to the 3D model, data about specific elements or movable objects within a heritage site, or details about the 3D model itself. The result will be a richer, more dynamic, multidimensional and cross-domain representation of the heritage asset, with an increased potential for reuse, for instance as part of XR experiences.

Twin it! Part II will contribute to advancing a shared understanding and a wider uptake of 3D digitisation with intent, ultimately equipping Europe’s cultural heritage sector to:

• Advance fit-for-purpose digitisation For 3D digitisation to be impactful, it must be purpose-driven, user-focused and intentional. In line with the updated Europeana Publishing Framework for 3D, a fit-for-purpose 3D object is one that was digitised and published online with a clear intent, supporting its reuse..

• Improve skills around 3D: Twin it! Part I revealed the need for capacity-building for the meaningful reuse of 3D heritage content. Twin it! Part II will offer upskilling opportunities, drive national and cross-border collaboration, and empower Member States in their 3D digitisation and preservation efforts.

• Create richer, more dynamic 3D assets: 3D models can be enriched with additional data, paradata and metadata. This will lead to a more dynamic, multidimensional and cross-domain representation of heritage assets which open new doors for reuse, including in XR and immersive experiences

• Support openness and reusability: The reusability of 3D models and related data contributes to the development of new knowledge and stimulates creativity and innovation. Twin it! Part II will continue to raise awareness of the positive impact of reuse, build capacity around communicating rights information, and strengthen 3D metadata and paradata standards in support of reuse.

Work undertaken as part of the Twin it! Part II campaign is supported by conferences which Europeana is organising in collaboration with Member States holding the Presidencies of the Council of the EU from - June 2025 to June 2026: Poland, Denmark and Cyprus.

Twin it! Part II will culminate in a high-level final event, where Ministers will present their submitted 3D assets alongside their vision for reuse. The high-level event will be hosted by and developed in close cooperation with the Cypriot Presidency.

If you would like to get involved, you can reach us at Twin.it3D@europeana.eu.

Follow the campaign on social media with #3DforCulture.

If you are interested in contributing 3D content to Europeana, you can reach us via our service desk.