The adoption of a novel industry paradigm is an untamed problem that requires strong social consensus and involves a high degree of technological uncertainty. To solve this problem a multi-actor engagement and agreement are needed. In this article, the methodology and the findings obtained after conducting a stakeholder analysis to understand how different actors could work together towards the adoption of Industry 5.0 principles and enabling technologies are presented. The analysis has been framed within a case study dealing with the conservation of historical bridges in the city of Oslo, Norway. The education institutions of the city were assumed as the problem owners. This research indicates that the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Climate and Environment, along with their subordinate agencies (Statens Vegvesen and Riksantikvaren, respectively) together with Oslo Kommune and its Cultural Heritage Office, possess the critical financial and regulatory resources necessary for adopting this paradigm. Their leadership and capacity to mobilise resources are pivotal in incentivising other stakeholders. Such resources should be driven towards a suitable business model, the adoption of human-centric digital twins as enabling technology, the establishment of interdisciplinary collaborations between the identified stakeholders, and the up-skilling/re-skilling of the industry workforce.

Despite its recent adoption, Industry 5.0 has attracted significant attention from researchers across various fields. However, the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Management, Operation, and Conservation (AECMO&C) industry, particularly in the context of built cultural heritage conservation, has lagged in this regard. This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of conservation professionals’ perceptions regarding the adoption of Industry 5.0 principles and enabling technologies, as well as the perceived barriers and the skills needed to address them. A survey questionnaire was designed, tested, and implemented to collect relevant data. Analysis of the collected data reveals that, although there is a clear recognition of the significance of Industry 5.0 principles and enabling technologies, their application in built cultural heritage conservation remains limited. Future initiatives should prioritise bridging knowledge gaps, enhancing training programmes, and securing necessary resources to overcome these existing barriers.

Regardless of the current challenges and limitations of Digital Twins, there seems to be only one school of thought and a consensus toward their future adoption for design, construction, management, operation, and decommissioning of bridges. This novel paradigm surged within the Industry 4.0 context and was fostered by evolving technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, big data, among others. Digital twins have now been recognized as an enabling technology towards the development and adoption of Industry 5.0 principles. Such principles are human-centrism, resilience, and sustainability. In this paper we explore the increasingly important role that humans will have within existing bridge digital twin frameworks and how the human-centrism principle could be better implemented within such context. Moreover, we also discuss how a successful implementation of human centrism could uphold and maximize the resilience and sustainability of existing bridges, especially those with cultural heritage value.