Call for CyArk 500 Project Submissions

The first deadline for submissions is December 31!

by Devon Haynes
December 17, 2013
We are less than two weeks away from the first deadline for submitting heritage sites for consideration in the CyArk 500. So far, we have submissions from governments, universities, heritage agencies, and museums championing sites around the world. CyArk urges heritage site managers, academics, diplomats, and members of the general public to submit a letter of interest on behalf of sites so that they can be considered by the Advisory Council in the first round of CyArk 500 selections.

CyArk opened the call for submissions at the launch of the 500 Challenge this past October in London. The CyArk 500 Challenge is a response to the accelerated rate at which humanity is losing our shared human heritage through conflict, violent weather, natural disasters, urban development, and the simple passage of time. Through the CyArk 500 Challenge, CyArk calls on international leaders to prioritize and celebrate their country’s heritage and join the movement to preserve these magnificent places for our children and grandchildren. CyArk’s hope is to have the 500 represent many different typologies of heritage from countries all over the world so that we can make these sites available for the public to explore through our 3D online archive.

The CyArk 500 Advisory Council, a group of international heritage experts chaired by Gustavo Araoz, President of ICOMOS International, is helping guide the selection of the CyArk 500 sites. The Council will focus specifically on three criteria when reviewing site submissions: Risk, Cultural Significance, and Technical Merit (whether the site or the geographic region could benefit from the introduction of digital 3D reality capture technologies).

Apart from being the first initiative of this magnitude looking to digitally document the world’s cultural heritage sites, the CyArk 500 is special because the sites are being crowd-sourced, and anyone is able to submit a site that is meaningful to them for consideration. We've been excited to see applications for sites come in from all over the globe. One of the best parts about seeing the submissions come through is reading the statement of significance for each site. No matter where in the world the submissions come from, in each application there is the same level of passion and love for the site, even in cases where the civilization that created the site disappeared thousands of years ago.

The CyArk 500 Challenge aims to add momentum to the growing global movement to leverage cutting-edge technologies to save the places that tell the stories of our shared human history, and keep them safe for future generations. Join us in accomplishing the 500 and submit your site by December 31!
Heritage is at risk every day.
Digital preservation can help. <br>Image: Process of digital preservation from data capture to conservation at Taos Pueblo, New Mexico.