Horizon Europe-funded project ARCHE (Alliance for Research on Cultural Heritage in Europe) launched on September 25th, a consultation with the broad community on a new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Cultural Heritage. The launch of the consultation was one of the highlights of the “Towards the ARCHE SRIA” workshop, organised by the Institute for Heritage Science of the National Research Council of Italy alongside Fondazione CR Firenze.
The event opened with introductory remarks from the Italian Ministry of University and Research, Italian Ministry of Culture and the Institute for Heritage Science of the National Research Council of Italy, as well as with presentations from the ARCHE project coordinator and the leaders of the team working on the SRIA, a roadmap with research priorities that will form the basis of calls for projects and other activities due to start in 2026, within the European Partnership for Resilient Cultural Heritage (RCH).
The workshop then followed with four different panels approaching the different sections of the future SRIA: a more general panel on cross-cutting themes, with topics such as diversity, equity and inclusion, that will be attached in future activities to specific research themes from three priority areas: cultural heritage and society, cultural heritage and environment, cultural heritage and governance. Representatives of the European Commission from the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) and the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) delivered the concluding remarks.
JPI Climate, represented by Petra Manderscheid (Executive Director) was in the panel discussion on Cultural Heritage and Governance, led by the Italian Ministry of Culture, Central Institute of Restoration, and Time Machine Organisation with other panelists from the University College of London, Institute for Sustainable Heritage, Environmental Risk and Data Analytics, and University for Continuing Education Krems. Giulia Galluccio (coordinator, MAGICA project) also participated in and contributed to the workshop.
Photo credits: ARCHE Consortium
The consultation for the future SRIA is being carried out until 15 November through a questionnaire available on the EUsurvey platform, in which the whole cultural heritage research and innovation community is invited to participate, as well members from other research and innovation communities, such as climate.
In parallel to the input via the questionnaire, people are invited to engage in further exchanges on the Heritage Research Forum, where they can share more detailed views on the SRIA and find possible partners for future activities, since the Forum also strives to act as a matchmaking platform.
This consultation is of particular importance given the fact that the SRIA will guide oone of the most ambitious programmes in CH research in the last 10 years. Because the Partnership will have a global picture of the CH R&I landscape in Europe and beyond, it will, thus, coordinate resources and people at an unprecedented scale and this would ultimately lead to more impact. Furthermore, since the Partnership will aim to involve numerous stakeholders and host various types of activities, from researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to research projects, capacity-building, and uptake of research results, it is crucial for the SRIA to accurately reflect the views of the targeted communities.
The results of the consultation will be integrated into the final version of the SRIA, which will be published in early 2025.
The ARCHE project started in September 2022 and lasts until September 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 and 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 here.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Vania Virgili, SRIA Work Package leader (vania.virgili@cnr.it)
Alexandre Caussé, ARCHE Coordinator (alexandre.causse@sciences-patrimoine.org)
