Digital photogrammetry as a resource for Cuban Cultural Heritage: educational experiences and community engagement within the Innova Cuba project

The Laboratory of Geomatics for Environment and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (GECO - University of Florence) has been involved since 2011 in a process of technological transfer in collaboration with the Oficina del Historiador de La Ciudad de La Habana (OHcH). The know-how transfer concerning geomatics techniques for documentation and surveying of cultural heritage is of fundamental interest for the principal Institution designated to the protection of Havana historical centre. The first project (2011-2014) was mainly focused on the formation of specialized technicians from OHcH in the use of Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS), for documentation purposes of monumental and architectonical heritage. The ongoing project, INNOVA CUBA – “International and intersectoral intervention for the safeguard of the cultural heritage of the country” started in 2017, is funded by AICS – Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and coordinated by ARCS – Culture Solidali. The introduction of digital close-range photogrammetry represents the natural progression of this educational process, thus implementing the range of innovative surveying technologies available, in terms of instruments, software and technical know-how. The two-weeks training experience in Havana (2018) provided the participants, technical staff from OHcH and other institutions, all the necessary knowledge to be autonomously able to choose the suitable surveying technique, depending on object characteristics and on available devices, to correctly plan the survey and evaluate its metric quality. A final workshop, for a wider audience, was the opportunity to introduce future crowdsourcing photogrammetric activities, to improve the sensitivity and engagement of local community towards heritage protection and valorisation processes.