ChemiNova’s final Pilot Week at Schönbrunn Palace

From 21 to 25 September 2026, Schönbrunn Palace will host the final Pilot Week of the ChemiNova project, of which Schönbrunn Group is a consortium partner, bringing together researchers, technology experts and cultural heritage professionals from across Europe for a week dedicated to science, innovation and the future of heritage conservation.

As ChemiNova enters its final phase, the Vienna Pilot represents one of the project’s most significant milestones. Hosted at Schönbrunn Palace, it will provide an opportunity to test and demonstrate innovative technologies, exchange knowledge and consolidate the results developed by the project consortium over the past three years.

Members of the public, heritage professionals, students, educators and anyone interested in the intersection of science, technology and cultural heritage are invited to take part in two public activities: the ChemiNova Webinar on 21 September and an interactive Open Event at Schönbrunn Palace on 22 September.

Funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme, ChemiNova brings together expertise from cultural heritage, conservation science, technology and community engagement to develop innovative approaches for assessing, monitoring and protecting cultural heritage.

At the heart of the project is the Chemitools suite, a set of digital tools designed to support cultural heritage condition assessment, monitoring and decision-making. Through pilot activities, data acquisition campaigns and capacity building, the project is exploring how emerging technologies can help heritage professionals better understand conservation needs and respond to challenges, including those linked to environmental and climate-related change.

The Vienna Pilot Week will bring together the different strands of this work through capacity building, public engagement, internal testing, consortium meetings and a final data acquisition campaign at Schönbrunn.

The Pilot Week will begin with a day dedicated to capacity building and knowledge exchange, led by ICCROM, including the ChemiNova Webinar on Digital Tools for Cultural Heritage Condition Assessment and Community Engagement.

The webinar will introduce approaches and experiences developed through the project and explore how digital technologies and community engagement can contribute to the monitoring and conservation of cultural heritage.

Registration is free and still open.

Register for the ChemiNova Webinar

On Tuesday, 22 September, Schönbrunn Palace will welcome the public for a special ChemiNova Open Event, led by DIADRASIS NGO, offering an opportunity to discover first-hand how science and technology can help protect palaces, monuments, artworks and other cultural heritage.

• Date: 22 September 2026
• Time: 16:00–18:00
• Venue: Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna
• Meeting point: Apothekertrakthof
• Admission: Free, with advance registration required

Designed for adults, families, students, teachers and young participants aged 8 and above, the event will transform heritage science into a hands-on experience.

Visitors will be able to become “Guardians of Cultural Heritage” by taking part in interactive challenges, experiment with scientific tools used by researchers and conservators, explore cultural heritage through virtual reality, and see how 3D scanning technologies can be used to document and understand historic objects and places.

Participants will also have the opportunity to meet scientists, conservators, heritage professionals and technology experts from the ChemiNova consortium and discover more about the research taking place across Europe.

School groups are especially welcome.

Participation is free of charge, but places are limited.

Register for the ChemiNova Open Event

Weather permitting, activities will take place in the Orangeriegarten. In case of bad weather, the event will move indoors to Rooms 4 and 5. Participants should meet at Apothekertrakthof, where registration check (InfoDesk) will take place before they are guided to the event area.

Alongside the two public activities, the Vienna Pilot Week will provide an important setting for the ChemiNova consortium to complete and evaluate its work.

Following the Capacity Building activities and Open Event, consortium partners will undertake hands-on internal testing of the Chemitools suite, using real-world scenarios to validate and further refine the project’s digital solutions.

The consortium will also hold its General Assembly to review progress and coordinate the final phase of the project. The week will conclude with the final on-site data acquisition activities at Schönbrunn, completing an essential part of ChemiNova’s research and development work.

By bringing research, technology and public engagement together at one of Europe’s most iconic heritage sites, the Vienna Pilot will demonstrate how collaboration across disciplines can contribute to new approaches for understanding, monitoring and safeguarding cultural heritage.

Join us on 21 and 22 September and discover how science, technology and people can work together to protect cultural heritage for future generations.

ChemiNova has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme under the grant agreement 101132441. Funded by the European Union.