"For hundreds of years, traditional ritual food has been an important ethnocultural trait for different nationalities. Characteristic of any ethnic group, its foods were also a product of its folklore and religious traditions. In modern times, as links between different nationalities become more accessible, there is a serious ""modernization"" of traditional cuisine. Through the internet, the cuisine of the peoples from all over the world is accessible by anyone, whether resident in a small village or in a city. The phenomenon of unification of the kitchen and commercialization of holidays (when it is mainly the preparation of traditional ritual food) is increasingly occurring. EuRiCa Project strives to contribute and foster the preservation of the ritual cuisine, its ethnocultural traits, as well as the folklore and traditions connected with it via the development of a methodology for digitization and creation of digital representations of ritual recipes which to be integrated into the virtual culture space of Europe and thus to be accessible globally. The digitalization of ritual recipes and the creation of their appropriate virtual representations increases the need for appropriate methods and IT solutions that support access to these little-known ethnographic objects, as well as providing the means to make them popular. As the culture sector evolves and changes, so do the skills required of individuals active in the sector who are specialists in areas, which require high-levels of knowledge but most often they are not directly connected to the IT sector. To meet this challenge EuRiCa will elaborate open and innovative training program, educational materials and e-tools for less time-consuming and cost-effective teaching on how the Europe ritual cuisine as a specific ethnographic object, could be presented, promoted and preserved in a global and long-term perspective. Moreover, a practical guide on how to implement developed methods and how to use the defined procedures and acquired skills in other domain will be provided as well in order to foster the preserving and developing cultural diversity and creating a ""common"" European identity."

Degradation of a cultural artefact depends on the environmental stress over time, especially during fluctuating environmental conditions, and the reactive behaviours of the materials of its composition. For an effective preventive conservation (PC) it is key to consider the historic environmental stress and degradation kinetics of the different materials (and their synergies) and monitor the artefact at all times. However, due to the heterogeneity of the material nature of the artefacts, this requires expensive monitoring as well as specialized personnel, out of reach for most, small to medium sized museums. CollectionCare will develop an innovative PC decision support system targeting the needs of small-medium sized museums. It will integrate IoT monitoring of the microclimatology of each artefact at any place, either at display, storage, handling or transport, integrated with multi-scale modelling for the different artefact materials while complying with current PC norms and recommendations. We will integrate latest advances in sensoring electronics, LPWAN wireless communication, multi-scale and multi-material degradation knowledge, big data and cloud computing into a single affordable system, adapted to the specific needs and resources of small museums and collections. The solution will built on the knowledge of different renown research groups and companies in the fields of PC (KADK, TU/e, LSIWC, UW, URO1, JHI and UPV), cloud computing and big data (ATOS), IoT connectivity (SGF), wireless sensoring (UPV, URO1), artefact transport (CBC, HvK), collection management (PS) as well as a large number of museums to guarantee future market acceptance (DFA-Spain, KMKG-Belgium, IVC-Spain, OAML-Latvia, IEEE-Greece, RDC-Denmark). The project will also count on a strong International Cooperation by an external Advisory Board of experts with prominent professional background from prestigious institutions and enterprises like: GCI, CCI, ICCROM, ICOMOS, Hispania Nostra and AXA ART.

The Digital Agenda of the Europe 2020 Strategy set as a main objective the development of a digital single market in order smart, sustainable and inclusive growth to be generated. The cultural heritage digitization turns Europe's cultural resources into an important building block for the digital economy and provides Europe's Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) with a competitive edge. The pace of innovation, the changing nature of the sector, and the importance of culture to the European economy require the employed in the CCIs to have relevant digital skills and competences. Linking education with innovation is a necessary step towards increasing the labor market relevance of VET and promoting a more resource efficient and competitive economy. The DigiCult project aims to elaborate and promote an innovative framework for digitization and efficient and cost-effective training on digital presentation, preservation and promotion of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Europe from global and long-term perspective. The provision of relevant training in ICH digitization (standards and methods) will contribute to meet common challenges such as the digital shift and need of encouragement of innovation in the cultural sector as the ability for practical application of digital skills and competences is a valuable asset to any professional qualification in this domain. The DigiCult beneficiaries are:-internal beneficiaries:- professionals from partner cultural organizations who are not involved in the direct implementation of the project's activities and outputs.- students from the educational organisations participating in the partnership who are trained in the field of presentation, preservation and dissemination of intangible cultural heritage.- external beneficiaries - staff of the institutions from the culture sector, professional networks, employers' unions, and associations which are not involved in the partnership. The DigiCult aim and objectives will be achieved by the following activities:- designing the technological educational model and setting up the DigiCult virtual learning environment (VLE) based on the contemporary ICT-based educational approaches and contents;- development of e-learning courses addressed ICH digitization and practical knowledge about the standards for digital presentation, storage and promotion aiming at improvement of their domain related digital skills;- piloting the developed coursein DigiCult VLE and collecting user feedback, given the future development of the methodology;The main DigiCult project results are:- Framework for common standards and models for digitization, presentation and preservation of intangible cultural heritage ; -Training course Digitization, presentation and preservation of intangible cultural heritage ;- DigiCult VLE – a modern educational environment where the students/VET trainees to be able to follow flexible learning paths while improving their key and transversal competences in line with the current digitization trends;-Guide and recommendations for digitization, presentation and preservation implementation system in intangible cultural heritage ; - Key Stakeholders Contact Database– the contact information for the identified project stakeholders in all countries involved.The direct impact shall be as follows:- On the educational organizations: elaborated training course in ICH digitization ready to be included in their educational curricula increasing the quality and the competitiveness of their educational product, innovative training content adapted to the needs of the CCIs;- On the Cultural organizations: trained staff in ICH digitization , framework describing methods and standards for digitization; practical guide how to digitize ICH object for each type of cultural organisation. - On the direct participants and the target groups: improved competences to respond to the modern requirements, better knowledge on the ICH digitization standards, adaptability in online training environment and better quality of the training.Long-term impacts:- Framework as base for elaborating common policy for digitization of ICH;- Transnational cooperation in digitization process.