Connecting Citizens, Science, and Vulnerable Heritage: An AR-Based Approach to Climate Resilience

The preservation of underwater and coastal cultural heritage is challenged by climate change, including sea-level rise, coastal erosion, extreme events and long-term environmental degradation. These threats require not only scientific monitoring and risk assessment, but also active engagement of local communities and stakeholders to foster awareness and citizen centered resilience.

This contribution presents the Augmented Reality (AR) crowdsourcing mobile application, to engage citizens, divers and local communities in exploring heritage sites, understanding climate-related risks and contributing to resilience strategies with collection of ground-truth data. The AR mobile application focuses on providing complex scientific knowledge into intuitive, place-based experiences accessible to non-expert audiences through interactive 3D reconstructions, contextualized information supported by visualizations of environmental and site-specific data over time. The AR mobile app supports enhanced learning and strengthens connections between citizens, heritage sites and scientific evidence, by allowing users to visualize digital content within their physical surroundings.

The application has been deployed across seven underwater and coastal pilot sites: the Equa Shipwreck (La Spezia, Italy), the Albenga A Shipwreck at Gallinara Island (Italy), the Hiorthhamn Arctic mining station (Svalbard, Norway), Lake IJssel (The Netherlands), the B-24 Liberator aircraft wreck (Algarve, Portugal), the Castle of Mykonos (Greece) and the Nissia Shipwreck (Cyprus). Each pilot features a tailored AR campaign reflecting its specific heritage value, ranging from Roman cargo vessels and WWII wrecks to Arctic industrial remains and coastal fortifications. Site-specific content visualises relevant climate hazards such as erosion, sea-level rise, storm impacts and material decay, while enabling users to explore excavation layers, alternative site states and historical reconstructions. The AR experiences are built using optimised 3D scans, reconstruction models, archival imagery, curated scientific content with interactive Points of Interest. Dynamic visualisations illustrate processes such as habitat formation, sediment movement, and structural transformation, supporting a deeper understanding of how environmental change affects heritage over time. All content has been developed in close collaboration with domain experts to ensure scientific accuracy and educational value.

A citizen-engagement study has been conducted to assess usability, user motivation, and the application’s effectiveness in raising awareness of climate risks to cultural heritage. Full validation across all pilot sites is taking place, ensuring that results reflect the cultural, geographic and environmental diversity of the seven pilot sites.

Acknowledgement:

This research has been funded by European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under THETIDA project (Grant Agreement No. 101095253) (Technologies and methods for improved resilience and sustainable preservation of underwater and coastal cultural heritage to cope with climate change, natural hazards and environmental pollution).