Press release for the Hybrid Conference of DELTA project
The DAISSy research group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) organized successfully the Hybrid International Conference on "Digital Transformation of Archaeology", in the framework of the DELTA project, on Saturday, June 4, 2022 at the Electra Palace Hotel, Athens (starting time 10.00).
The conference was opened by Mrs. Polyxeni Adam-Veleni, General Director of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. In the first part, the programme started with a description of the DELTA project by the scientific coordinator of the project and professor of SST HOU, director of the DAISSy research group- HOU, Mr. Achilles Kameas. The first part of the conference included presentations of the results and deliverables of the DELTA project by the project partners. The blended course "Digital Excavation" and the DELTA Platform were presented by Mrs. Panagiota Polymeropoulou, senior researcher of the DELTA project. Then, the content and learning objectives for each of the modules developed in the DELTA course were presented to the audience, namely: module 1 by Mr. Peter Tóth, Masaryk University, module 2 by Mr. Yannis Papadatos, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, module 3 by Mrs. Francesca Sogliani, University of Basilicata and module 4 by Mrs. Panagiota Polymeropoulou, DAISSy research group - Hellenic Open University.
The students from Greece (Eleni Gourgouleti, Georgios Tasopoulos, Georgios Ntzoufras), from Italy (Mariangela Maura) and from the Czech Republic (Filip Ševčík) spoke about their experience from their participation in 2021 in the DELTA blended course and especially their training and participation in the DELTA Intensive Study Programme, which took place at the University excavation of the University of Athens, at Plasi of Marathon.
The conference hosted live and online speeches from Greek and foreign institutions. The second part of the programme included speeches by invited speakers, researchers, archaeologists and professors, such as Mrs. Despina Tsiafaki, Athena Research Centre, Mr. Dimitrios Planzos, Department of History and Archaeology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Mr. Dimitrios Rubis, Italian Institute of Cultural Heritage Sciences, Mr. Petr Dresler, University of Masaryk, Mr. Ascanio D'Andrea, Ministry of Culture - Special Service of Archaeology of Rome, Fine Arts and Landscape, Mr. Gabriele Gattiglia, University of Pisa and finally, Mrs. Hana Kubelková, University of Masaryk. The state of the art regarding the profile of the archaeologist in each partner country, the training and upgrading of future archaeologists, as well as digital tools, excavation data management and the infrastructure used for excavation and archaeological issues, are some of the topics presented. The conference provided an open platform to discuss the latest innovations, trends and concerns, as well as practical challenges and digital solutions being adopted in archaeology and excavation.
The conference was attended by 65 people in person, 84 people remotely (via Zoom), while there was a live broadcast on the YouTube channel of the DAISSy research group - HOU with 60 participants (on the day of the event). The international conference addressed students, professionals, educators, researchers and practitioners in the fields of archaeology, digital education and vocational training, as well as training providers, decision-makers in the field of education and culture, representatives of municipalities and cultural associations.
The project DELTA - Digital Excavation through Learning and Training in Archaeology is funded under the Erasmus+/ KA2/ Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education programme. The project is coordinated by the DAISSy research group of the Hellenic Open University. The consortium consists of Universities from three countries (Department of History and Archaeology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens - Greece, Department of European and Mediterranean Cultures: Basilicata - Italy and Department of Archaeology and Museology, University of Masaryk - Czech Republic). The DELTA project developed a Massive Open Online Course aimed at students and teachers of Archaeology, combining the physical space of an archaeological excavation with the digital space of online learning.
