The consortium of Horizon-funded ARCHE project (Alliance for Research on Cultural Heritage in Europe) met between 16-18 October in Paris, on the premises of the French Ministry of Culture, in order to assess the first year of implementation and set the stage for the upcoming steps.
The meetings brought together the project’s General Assembly (the prime responsible body for all of ARCHE’s scientific, research, technical, administrative, and financial issues) and Executive Board (the supervisory body for the execution of the Project), and coincided with the Steering Committee and Governing Board meetings of the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPI CH).
The meetings addressed the finished and upcoming deliverables, as well as the completed and ongoing tasks. ARCHE’s first year focused on conducting a comprehensive mapping and assessment of the research and innovation landscape in cultural heritage across Europe, as well as to organising several rounds of engagement with stakeholders via four virtual workshops.
Future steps were also approached, as throughout 2024, ARCHE will organize four in-person workshops across Europe in order to refine a first, currently in-progress version of the new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for cultural heritage. This document is one of the project’s most important outputs, since it strives to act as a roadmap for harmonising heritage research policies across the continent in the coming years. ARCHE partners also used this opportunity to engage with the JPI CH members and to brainstorm new ways of boosting the cooperation between the two large-scale initiatives.
In addition to the plenary discussions on the progress of ARCHE, partners also engaged in smaller, thematic working sessions, that further strengthened the team spirit already present in the consortium. Arguably the most pleasant surprise of this reunion was the visit at the Cluny Museum, which proved to be a great insight into medieval art and the relevance of museum research for the broader field of cultural heritage.
The Ministry of Culture, through the Directorate General for Education, Research and Cultural Institutes, participates in the project by contributing to outlining an overall framework of research and innovative projects on cultural heritage, to creating the alliance and building relationships with stakeholders, promoting and disseminating the project as well as implementing and supporting the ARCHE structure. He will also be the promoter and organizer of the in-person workshop scheduled for Rome in December 2024. In Paris, through its representatives in the governance bodies of the project, it took part in plenary discussions, in a discussion with the JPI and with representatives of the European Commission regarding the upcoming EU Partnership 25-27, in the thematic sessions on SRIA and on stakeholder involvement and a team building session.
Altogether, the three days of the ARCHE and JPI CH meetings proved to be very engaging and inspiring, and the partners are very much looking forward to an intense, but rewarding second year.
The project
The ARCHE project started in September 2022 and lasts until August 2025. Its purpose is to develop a pan-European framework for a holistic approach to cultural heritage research and innovation, by creating the Alliance for Research on Cultural Heritage in Europe, a spearheading coordination network of researchers, innovators, heritage professionals, institutional bodies and citizens. The aim is to engage a large variety of cultural heritage actors in Member States / Associated Countries in the co-design of research and innovation strategies and roadmaps that lead to research and innovation initiatives requiring multidisciplinary approaches and skills.
Learn more about the project.
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