Join us: 22 October 2026 | Brussels | 09:00–14:00
How can cultural heritage become a driver of regional innovation, competitiveness and sustainable tourism?
The MetaHeritage project, in collaboration with the Emilia-Romagna Region Delegation to the EU in Brussels, invites stakeholders from across Europe to its final event, bringing together cultural heritage, digital innovation, tourism and regional development. As the project reaches its final stage, the event will showcase key results and innovative business models, while exploring how digital technologies and interregional can drive heritage innovation and sustainable growth. It will position digital solutions for heritage and tourism not only as a cultural topic, but as an opportunity for regional innovation, SME competitiveness, and investment models. The event will also offer opportunities for exchange, networking and future collaboration among European policymakers, regions, heritage and tourism organisations, SMEs, technology providers and other stakeholders.
With the event, MetaHeritage aims to:
- Showcase the European innovation ecosystem connecting cultural heritage, tourism, digital technologies, and regional development;
- Highlight digital transformation opportunities for tangible, intangible, natural, industrial, and corporate heritage;
- Promote interregional collaboration across scalable innovation cases;
- Generate investment and project ideas that could feed into future EU proposals or business cases.
Agenda
The programme will feature keynote presentations, expert roundtables and innovation pitches, followed by a networking lunch. We will explore how digital technologies and new business models can transform cultural heritage and sustainable tourism across Europe. Following opening remarks and a keynote on the importance of digital heritage, experts will discuss the potential of XR, the metaverse and other immersive technologies, as well as the conditions required to make heritage initiatives investment-ready. The event will also present four MetaHeritage business cases, showcase real-world digital heritage solutions and examine how strong interregional innovation ecosystems can support scalable projects, competitive SMEs and cross-regional value chains.
Please find here the agenda.
Event details
22 October 2026, 09:00–14:00
Emilia-Romagna Region Delegation to the EU
Conference room, first floor
Rue Montoyer 21, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Register here: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/MetaHeritageEvent
