ENIGMA EU

ENIGMA Public Engagement

enigma_admin — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 08:44:25 +0000

ENIGMA Public Engagement

ENIGMA

Dates: Until the end of December 2025
Location: ONLINE

Public participation for the ENIGMA Public Engagement form is part of the operational phase of the ENIGMA platform and will remain open until the end of December 2025.

We invite you to access the ENIGMA Public Engagement form, a user-friendly, web-based, responsive application developed alongside the ENIGMA platform.

This application allows you to access and submit entries for reporting archaeological sites or simulating potential illegal activity scenarios. It empowers the public to report and alert the community about suspected illegal digging sites and possible looting activities, supporting the ENIGMA project’s mission to protect cultural heritage.

ENIGMA in the Greek press coverage

enigma_admin — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:26:08 +0000

ENIGMA on the frontage of the Greek newspaper "Kathimerini"

ENIGMA

Dates: 18 December 2025
Location: Greek Press – Kathimerini

The ENIGMA Project has been featured on the front page of Kathimerini, one of Greece’s most trusted and authoritative newspapers.

The ENIGMA Project Coordinator, Charalampos Georgiadis, has provided an eye-opening report that explores the cutting-edge digital initiative of ENIGMA’s platform as a powerful new tool in the fight against the illegal trafficking of cultural heritage.

The article takes readers inside real-world airport simulations, where authorities use the innovative ENIGMA platform to rapidly identify suspicious antiquities and safeguard priceless artefacts.

It highlights how ENIGMA brings together artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and an international network of experts, accelerating the identification of looted cultural goods — from 3D imaging to crowdsourced alerts that empower both professionals and the public.

Read the full article in press (Greek only, paid version)

Read the article (English, online)

ENCATC Talk – Culture under threat: A European Response to Illicit Trafficking

enigma_admin — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 11:42:43 +0000

ENCATC Talk - Culture under threat: A European Response to Illicit Trafficking

ENIGMA

Dates: 12 December 2025
Location: ONLINE
Time: 14:00 – 15:30 (CET)

The illicit trafficking of cultural goods is a global challenge that feeds criminal networks and threatens our heritage. A coordinated European response is essential to protect it.

We invite you to the ENCATC Talk: Culture under threat: A European Response to Illicit Trafficking.

This session explores how European law enforcement, cultural heritage experts, and policymakers are strengthening coordinated action. It highlights current research and innovation projects—such as ANCHISE, AURORA, and ENIGMA—which are providing new tools for protection, digital identity, and traceability.

This is the first event in a collaborative series with the Michael Culture Association. Don’t miss out!

Culture under threat: A European Response to Illicit Trafficking

Register here

AURORA: a project fighting illicit trafficking of cultural objects

enigma_admin — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 10:20:10 +0000

AURORA: a project fighting illicit trafficking of cultural objects

Round Table

The ENIGMA project has been invited to the final event of the AURORA project, which focuses on combating illicit trafficking in cultural objects.

Our project is participating in the Round Table alongside the AURORA and ANCHISE project on December 11th 2025, in Florence (Italy) and online.

Together, the projects are discussing strategies to combat the illicit trafficking of cultural objects, highlighting collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches that strengthen the protection of cultural heritage across Europe.

An afternoon dedicated to innovative solutions for product security and traceability.

Discover the three pillars of the AURORA project:

Photoluminescent chemical markers for anti-counterfeiting
AURORA Digital Tools for data management and protection
Embedded wireless technologies for monitoring and communication

International experts will share real-world applications and technological developments, followed by a Q&A session.

ENIGMA Final Event

enigma_admin — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 11:06:33 +0000

ENIGMA FINAL EVENT

Technology and Data for Safeguarding Cultural Heritage

Date: 3 December 2025
Location: Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, Belgium & Online

Organizer: ENIGMA Consortium

Description: ENIGMA is a European research project that leverages data-driven technologies to combat the illicit trade of cultural goods. By improving interoperability, traceability, and collaboration among stakeholders, ENIGMA contributes to a safer and more transparent cultural heritage ecosystem.

After three fruitful years, the ENIGMA Consortium is pleased to announce the ENIGMA Final Conference, titled “Unlocking ENIGMA – Technology and Data for Safeguarding Cultural Heritage,” to be held on 3 December 2025 at the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels and online.

The event will bring together experts, policymakers, cultural heritage institutions, and law enforcement agencies to discuss how technology and data can strengthen efforts to combat illicit trade in cultural goods and protect global heritage.

Over the past years, the ENIGMA project, funded by the European Union, has developed innovative tools and a collaborative platform to enhance data sharing, traceability, and interoperability in the cultural heritage sector. The final conference will showcase these achievements and provide a space for dialogue and future collaboration.

The one-day program features:

Keynotes on data, technology, and heritage protection by leading experts from Europeana Foundation and the Belgian Federal Police.
A live demonstration of the ENIGMA platform and tools.
A panel discussion on data interoperability for safeguarding cultural heritage.
A roundtable with representatives from related EU projects (ANCHISE, AURORA) exploring the way forward.

Participants will gain insights into practical solutions, policy recommendations, and technological innovations that bridge the worlds of cultural stewardship and security.
“ENIGMA represents a milestone in how data and technology can unite cultural and security stakeholders to protect our shared heritage,” said Prof. Georgiadis Charalampos of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, ENIGMA Coordinator.

The conference is free and open to the public, with prior registration required for both in-person and online attendance.

Download Program

Register and Join: https://forms.gle/byukPxh1soeME5rh6

Trafficking and Conflict: Challenges for Cultural Heritage Today

enigma_admin — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 12:08:24 +0000

Trafficking and Conflict: Challenges for Cultural Heritage Today

ENIGMA

Dates: 1 December 2025 (New Date)
Location: Museum Kunst & Geschiedenis Brussels, Belgium

Organisers: Blue Shields Belgium, ICOM Wallonie-Bruxelles, ENIGMA, Royal Museums of Art and History, and UNESCO Flanders.

Description: This in-person event aspires to foster shared reflection on the professional, ethical, and human responsibilities of heritage experts and institutions. It is aimed at professionals in the heritage sector, including libraries, archives, and museums, as well as scholars, students, and all those interested in the protection and safeguarding of heritage.

The morning session is dedicated to current developments in the fight against trafficking in cultural heritage, highlighting expertise from Belgian law enforcement, ICOM International, EU policy, and research projects focusing on issues related to looting, theft, and the movement of cultural goods and artefacts.

As war ravages Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, destroying and threatening tangible and intangible cultural heritage, European museums, archives and libraries are reminded of the vulnerability of their collections.

The afternoon session is a response to the growing demand in the Belgian heritage sector for knowledge exchange on the safeguarding of movable heritage in times of armed conflict, with shared perspectives and lessons learnt from the recent and more distant past. Blue Shield Belgium also proudly presents the Belgian premiere of the award-winning docudrama The Oath of Cyriac (France/Syria, 2021), on the emergency evacuation of the collections of the Aleppo National Museum.
Register here
Program

ENIGMA Project Successful Completion of Pilot Cases

enigma_admin — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 11:45:08 +0000

ENIGMA Project Successful Completion of Pilot Cases

Press Release

The ENIGMA project has completed the implementation of its four (4) pilot cases across numerous European sites, engaging multiple key end-user organizations.
More precisely, from July to October 2025, all project partners involved in “Pilot Cases Implementation, Tools Demonstration and Validation” (Work Package 6, led by KEMEA) worked intensively towards the implementation of the following piloting activities:

• Pilot Case 1: “Novel Documentation of Museum Items”.
The first pilot case was jointly led and implemented by KMKG in Belgium and Heritage Malta in Malta, aiming to validate the novel documentation workflow. Cultural Heritage experts successfully tested the creation and utility of Digital Twins and the Unique Authenticity Identifier (UAI) for securing museum collections and standardizing records.

• Pilot Case 2: “Identification and Tracing of Unregistered Cultural Goods”.
The second pilot case took place at the General Police Directorate of Thessaloniki, organised by KEMEA, in close collaboration with the Hellenic Police (HP), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) and KIKLO, with the online collaboration of KMKG. This hands-on exercise validated the ENIGMA platform’s AI-driven tools for investigating unregistered cultural goods, allowing the participating LEA officers to test the system against five realistic scenarios.

• Pilot Case 3: “Monitoring of Endangered Heritage Sites”.
The third pilot case was primarily implemented by the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence (ECoE), in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus. In this case, the main objective was to demonstrate and validate the Earth Observation (EO) toolkit’s ability to monitor endangered heritage sites for illicit activities, using as examples three distinct locations in Greece, Cyprus and Syria.

• Pilot Case 4: “Validation of the ENIGMA Integrated Platform”.
The fourth pilot case, led by KEMEA and Hellenic Police, took place at the Thessaloniki International Airport “Macedonia”, simulating a real-world border control scenario, entailing the seizure of unregistered cultural goods from a passenger’s hand luggage. The pilot successfully validated the integrated platform’s readiness for in-field, time-sensitive operations by frontline officers.

ENIGMA – Training Activities for Stakeholders

enigma_admin — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 11:41:02 +0000

ENIGMA Project Scales Up Training Activities for Stakeholders

ENIGMA

Organisers: ENIGMA Project Training Activities for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to Cultural Heritage (CH) Experts

Description:

The ENIGMA project, Endorsing Safeguarding, Protection, and Provenance Management of Cultural Heritage, is in its final phases to develop digital technology in the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural goods and the monitoring of heritage sites.

Recently, ENIGMA completed pilot training, and further training workshops are planned by the end of the project. These activities mark a crucial phase in the project’s development and engage stakeholders in familiarizing themselves with the identification, provenance and safeguarding of artefacts.

These sessions are designed to onboard professionals from Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to Cultural Heritage (CH) Experts in the practical application of ENIGMA to strengthen the resilience of cultural heritage in Europe and across the globe through innovation and collaboration. The training activities gather critical feedback from stakeholders to fine-tune ENIGMA‘s digital solutions and include pre-recorded presentations, life guidance and step-by-step guides.

The first training activities already took place earlier this year. These included training CH Experts during the pilot 1: Novel Documentation of Museum Items on 14 August 2025. Further training was provided on 17-19 September 2025 for Pilot Case 2: Identification and Tracing of Unregistered Cultural Goods, which engaged LEAs. Participants got firsthand insights into innovative tools and provided valuable feedback to refine ENIGMA.

Further training took place on 29 October 2025 and included a training workshop for Law Enforcement Agencies: Tackling the Illicit Trade of Cultural Goods. The workshop targets LEAs in an interactive 90 mins long session, including both a theoretical overview and hands-on application of the ENIGMA platform.

On 30-31 October 2025, a series of 4 training workshops on safeguarding heritage was engaged a broad range of CH Experts, including Museum Curators, Collection Managers, Archaeologists, Heritage Site Managers, Art Historians, and Conservators. Participants had the chance to explore how their specialized knowledge can be transformed into concrete, digital action to support law enforcement efforts and protect shared cultural heritage.

By engaging these distinct stakeholder communities, ENIGMA ensures that its digital solutions are not only technically robust but also practically validated by the experts on the front lines of heritage protection while enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration.

Training Workshop for Cultural Heritage Experts: Safeguarding Heritage

enigma_admin — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 13:23:01 +0000

ENIGMA Training Workshop for Cultural Heritage Experts: Safeguarding Heritage

ENIGMA

Dates: 30 October and 31 October 2025
Location: ONLINE
Time: Duration: 10:00 – 11:30 or 13:30 – 15:00(CET) (90 minutes per session).

Future training days and timeslots may be made available with high demand of registrants.

On 30 October 2025, ENIGMA will host an online workshop for cultural heritage experts, bringing together museum curators, archaeologists, heritage site managers, art historians, conservators, GLAM representatives, and more. This hands-on training will showcase how the expertise of cultural heritage professionals can be translated into practical use within the ENIGMA Platform, supporting law enforcement in preventing the illicit trafficking of cultural goods.

Each session lasts 90 minutes and combines theoretical insights with interactive use of the platform. Requirements: Participants must be registered on the ENIGMA platform in advance and are encouraged to join with two screens for the best interactive experience.

Register here

Protecting Cultural Heritage from Illicit Trafficking, Athens, Greece

enigma_admin — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 10:22:59 +0000

Protecting Cultural Heritage from Illicit Trafficking National Gallery Athens Greece

ENIGMA

Dates: 23-24 October 2025
Location: National Gallery Auditorium of Athens, Greece

The ENIGMA EU Project participated in the Cultural Heritage School 4 “Protecting Cultural Heritage from Illicit Trafficking ” which was held at the National Gallery Auditorium of Greece, organized by the Ministry of Culture of Greece in collaboration with the Embassy of the United States in Athens and the Greek Section of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

The event was part of the Cultural Heritage School series, and brought together archaeologists, cultural heritage managers, law enforcement and judicial authorities, as well as other specialists and public officials from Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean, to present best practices and strategies in protecting cultural heritage.

ENIGMA Coordinator, Charalampos Georgiadis, delivered in the dedicated session on “TECHNOLOGICAL AND DIGITAL TOOLS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ILLICIT TRAFFICKING OF CULTURAL GOODS” a presentation: “The ENIGMA platform: A holistic approach in the fight against illicit tracking of cultural goods” showcasing the ENIGMA platform and the developed technological tools.