As part of the Erasmus+ DIGISCAN mobility programme, a team from Heritage Malta’s Digitisation Department travelled to Cyprus to participate in what was formally designed as a job-shadowing placement. The team was hosted by the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) and the UNESCO Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage. However, what unfolded on site was not just observation but developed into a truly collaborative exchange, where both institutions contributed their expertise, shared methods, and gained valuable insights into each other’s digitisation practices.
The focus of the exchange was the full 3D documentation of the Panagia Aimatousa Church in Aradippou, Cyprus. This historic structure provided an ideal setting for a complex, multi-layered digitisation exercise. From the outset, both teams engaged in joint planning, working together to carry out a detailed pre-acquisition phase. This included mapping the site, defining scanning priorities, and establishing a workflow that would integrate terrestrial LiDAR, aerial photogrammetry, and close-range documentation techniques.
Rather than following a one-directional training model, the experience evolved into a two-way process of professional exchange. The CUT and UNESCO Chair team introduced methodologies grounded in their long-standing research practices, particularly around LiDAR registration patterns and integrated site mapping. Meanwhile, the Heritage Malta team contributed its own perspective and experience from past projects, leading to valuable discussions on workflow efficiency, equipment integration, and field-based problem solving.
The scanning phase involved the collection of high-resolution data from both the exterior and interior of the church, using a combination of drone-based photogrammetry for contextual landscape documentation, static LiDAR scanners for the architectural envelope, and handheld systems for the finer details of the interior space. This layered approach allowed for full coverage of the site, both in scale and texture.
Following data acquisition, the teams conducted a joint review of the material, comparing post-processing methods, quality assurance practices, and documentation strategies. Particular attention was paid to the structuring of metadata and paradata, which is essential for ensuring that the data can be archived and used in future conservation, research, or interpretation efforts. Discussions around software documentation and output formats highlighted areas where the two teams could align their approaches further, while also identifying good practices that could be adopted on both sides.
This hands-on collaboration led to several important outcomes. The Heritage Malta team strengthened its technical proficiency in multi-method scanning and refined its protocols for pre-acquisition planning. At the same time, the CUT team benefitted from external perspectives on efficiency and on-site problem solving – all insights that emerged naturally through joint fieldwork. What began as a mobility activity designed around skill acquisition ended up offering mutual institutional benefit, strengthening not only technical skills but also building longer-term collaborative relationships between Malta and Cyprus in the field of digital heritage.
The project also served as a strong example of the Erasmus+ programme’s value in engaging and encouraging real-world partnerships. By enabling professional mobility and practical collaboration, DIGISCAN created the conditions for deeper engagement, capacity building, and knowledge exchange in an area of increasing importance to the cultural heritage sector. Heritage Malta’s involvement in this initiative has resulted in tangible improvements to internal digitisation workflows, particularly in planning, acquisition, and data documentation. More broadly, it has reaffirmed the importance of international cooperation in setting high standards for 3D cultural heritage documentation and ensuring that these standards are shared, tested, and continually refined across institutions.
