Belonging: Sustainable heritage through digital technologies

Cultural heritage is inherent in the belongings of a society. These possessions can be tangible or intangible but holds value for the people and communities. Cultural heritage, whether it is architectural buildings or natural landscapes, literary writings or performing arts, tales or traditions, moral values or religious rituals, serves as evidence of the evolution of societies and connects humans with the past to live their present and plan their future in reference to what the groups of people and communities have been practicing in the past. Regardless of how old the cultural monuments or tales and traditions of a society are, they always offer something new to learn for future generations. Preservation of cultural heritage is the only way to embrace the history of humanity and rebuild societies. The awareness of heritage, tangible and intangible, and the process of preserving it has accelerated with the emergence of digital technologies. Digital imaging of various types is providing enormous support to the processes of physical restoration and in the building of virtual data on heritage sites. This article examines the heritage sites under threat and the role of digital technologies in the transformation of heritage in recent times.