The Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) and the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) organised on October 23 a workshop called “European Partnership for Resilient Cultural Heritage: New Opportunities for International Cooperation”, within the framework of the Horizon Europe-funded ARCHE project (Alliance for Research on Cultural Heritage in Europe). The event engaged with countries from North America, South America and Africa and aimed at highlighting their national research and innovation landscapes in cultural heritage, while seeking opportunities for collaboration within the future European Partnership for Resilient Cultural Heritage.
The workshop introduced ARCHE as the preparatory project for the future European Partnership for Resilient Cultural Heritage, as well as the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda – the roadmap that will guide the Partnership’s activities. The focus during the SRIA presentation was on the ongoing consultation, which lasts until the end of November and which aims at gathering input from the communities around cultural heritage and climate change research and innovation, in order to result in a comprehensive document that would harmonise heritage research policies across the continent in the coming years. The round of introductions was followed by two panels on national and regional policies and priorities for cultural heritage R&I, with representatives of institutions from Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Egypt, United States and Canada. A dedicated session on international cooperation in the Spanish cultural heritage research and innovation landscape was intertwined with the afore-mentioned panels.
The event was followed by the consortium meetings of the ARCHE project, which focused on the progress made by the project in the past months, the key moments in the near future, as well as the next steps regarding the RCH Partnership. The meetings presented the ongoing work on the SRIA, as well as the main elements of the recently-completed governance for the future Alliance, the communication efforts and the timeline for the coming months, which include one more workshop in Rome (3 December) and five more workshops in 2025. The project will conclude in September 2025 with a public event and a policy roundtable, which will finetune the ARCHE policy recommendations.
During the sessions focused on the RCH Partnership, the team discussed the updated version of the proposal, which was sent to the European Commission in October, as well as the next steps in terms of forming a consortium and drafting the response to the call (which will be published as part of the Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme).
In addition to the plenary discussions on the progress of ARCHE, partners had the opportunity to visit the National Archaeological Museum in a guided tour that highlighted the richness of Spain’s cultural heritage.
The three days of the ARCHE workshop and consortium meetings were a moment of celebration and reflection, as well as preparation for a very intense third and final year of the project, but that will certainly prove itself very rewarding in terms of building and supporting the community around cultural heritage research & innovation.
