Project Digital Twins for Smart, Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Heritage Preservation, led by Universidade NOVA de Lisboa through NOVA LINCS and  VICARTE – NOVA FCT, and IN2PAST, aims to develop and implement Digital Twin (DT) technology to enhance the management, preservation, and sustainable tourism of Portugal’s cultural heritage. Building upon the Património Cultural 360 project’s large-scale digitisation efforts, this initiative will create dynamic digital representations of heritage sites by integrating 3D digitization, sensor data (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and immersive storytelling.

By merging digital innovation, cultural heritage conservation, and smart tourism, DT4SST-CH.PT seeks to establish a scalable and adaptable framework that enhances heritage preservation while fostering engaging and sustainable visitor experiences. Also contributing to policy making by developing guidelines and recommendations for adopting DT technology in cultural heritage, the project aims to serve as a model for future DT applications in heritage management, promoting high-quality tourism that respects cultural and environmental sustainability.

Among other advantages, digital replicas will enable: i) real-time monitoring of delicate environments or potential risks, such as flooding at Santa Clara-a-Velha or visitor pressure at the Belém Tower; 2) optimise visitors flow, maintaining site integrity while enhancing the visitor experience; 3) contextualize objetcs through augmented reality (AR); 4) interactive experiences through gamification. All the while contributing to increase public interest, enhance education, deepen historical understanding, and support sustainable resource management and targeted conservation interventions.

Planned pilot sites to integrate DTs and other technologies are the archaeological sites of Santa Clara-a-Velha and the Roman Ruins of Milreu, the Belém Tower, the Alcobaça Monastery, the National Tile Museum and the Escoural Cave.