Many studies provide robust evidence of the clear benefits of heritage investment for the regeneration of cities and regions, both on individual and community levels. However, European Heritage Building stock is getting older, and historic places’ abandonment is a sad fact in many regions. In the last decades, we observe an increase in digital methodologies for documenting, recording and protecting monuments and historic buildings. SFOs are playing an essential role in this direction, speeding up processes and providing more accurate data. In 5D-ARCH-AID, we propose a new innovative service that combines a well-established historic building documentation methodology and SFOs’ technology on 3D reconstruction. 5D-ARCH-AID will exploit the HERMeS system; implemented in 4.500 historic buildings today and awarded by the European Union 2015 & Council of Europe 2016. HERMeS applies a methodology for diagnosing buildings’ pathology (after detailed in-site documentation) and uses an algorithm to develop conservation planning and engage local communities.

Cultural Heritage is a high-growth sector, and EU leaders invest in heritage-led regeneration of urban and rural areas, enabling and amplifying Europe’s social and economic recovery. The vast potential of heritage-led regeneration in historic cities, villages and the countryside across Europe can indeed become a real game-changer towards a greener and more sustainable Europe. 5D-ARCH-AID allows getting accurate results on pathology issues and conservation status of small/medium or large historic settlements, using drones and 360 cameras, provides an innovative tool that local authorities, NGOs, Research Institutions and SMEs could exploit to get quickly, low-cost, accurate data and information for conservation and protection of local cultural heritage. The proposed project integrates information on tangible and intangible heritage supporting the creative sector reuse data in many challenging areas, such as tourism, serious games, and education. 5D-ARCH-AID is strengthening UFO project’s aims by expanding SMEs’ know-how combining new technological solutions from SFOs, building capacity among multidisciplinary teams, and providing a new service that various local SFO teams can exploit.

• The 5D-ARCH-AID service is a tool for documenting the pathology of buildings and settlements, for creating conservation plans, shaping decision-making tools to prioritize interventions, and raising awareness of local communities in order to preserve their cultural heritage.
• The 5D-ARCH-AID implementation methodology significantly reduces the cost of cultural heritage documentation, while reducing implementation times without compromising on the quality of results.
• One of the goals of this project was the creation of a rich digital representation of the historic settlement of Ano Syros, which led to the creation of a three-dimensional Digital Twin of the historic settlement.
• The 3D Digital Twin of the historic settlement of Ano Syros provides, among others, the possibility of 3D measurements remotely, while facilitating the perception of space and functions within the settlement remotely and can be the basis for decision-making in macro-medium and micro-scale.