Alliance for Research on Cultural Heritage in Europe

Project Information

ARCHE

Grant agreement ID: 101060054

DOI

10.3030/101060054

Project closed

EC signature date 9 June 2022

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 30 September 2025

Funded under

• Culture, creativity and inclusive society

Total cost

€ 2 913 136,25

EU contribution

€ 2 913 136,00

Coordinated by

FONDATION DES SCIENCES DU PATRIMOINE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ARCHE (Alliance for Research on Cultural Heritage in Europe)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Cultural Heritage (CH) Research and Innovation (R&I) landscape has changed significantly over the past few years. New political, technological and socio-economic parameters put emphasis on improving protection, conservation and restoration efficiency of European CH with green technologies, as well as developing and further exploiting high quality digitisation, open access and curation of digital assets. The need also exists to enhance the innovation potential and competitive edge of the Cultural and Creative Sector (CCS) to drive sustainable growth and job creation against global competition.
Responding to these challenges, the project will develop a pan European framework for a holistic approach to CH R&I, by creating the Alliance for Research on Cultural Heritage in Europe (ARCHE), a spearheading coordination network of researchers, innovators, heritage professionals, institutional bodies and citizens. The objective is to engage all CH actors in member States / Associated Countries in the co-design of R&I strategies and roadmaps that lead to R&I initiatives
requiring multidisciplinary approaches and skills.
A detailed assessment of R&I gaps and needs for the next decade will be the basis for designing a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for joint programming aiming to increase awareness of heritage and European sense of belonging. A new purpose-built governance structure will be proposed that will effectively involve existing networks and new partners from relevant scientific disciplines and industries. It will also promote intensive and wide-ranging collaboration between cultural heritage, the arts, and the CCS. The SRIA and governance structure will be tested in a pilot operation in the third and final year.
ARCHE will be a strong basis for a European Partnership in CH, by pooling, developing and upscaling transnational collaboration on CH R&I and by involving all stakeholders and funding mechanisms related to CH R&I policy and action.

The project's overall objectives are the following:
1. To draw a comprehensive picture of the EU CH R&I landscape and propose joint action responding to needs by efficient use of complementary funding sources.
2. To develop the ARCHE Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for R&I in Europe based on a holistic approach for CH as an interdisciplinary field for its conservation, preservation and valorisation.
3. To gear the ARCHE SRIA towards innovation and concrete actions for creating and developing innovative value chains.
4. To set-up a purpose-built governance structure promoting involvement and commitment of partner institutions and ensuring efficient coordination.
5. To achieve the critical mass in terms of participating stakeholders and resources needed for the longterm sustainable operation of ARCHE.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

ARCHE's second and third years have focused on designing an efficient Governance structure for the future Alliance, engaging with a broad range of stakeholders and understanding their priorities in terms of cultural heritage research topics and policies and, last but not least, drafting the new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA).

From a scientific point of view, the main outputs are following:
- the new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), which was drafted through an open and collaborative process that involved a public consultation with stakeholders, several rounds of workshops and which will steer the future calls for projects in the resulting Alliance
- an examination of the Governance structures of existing Partnerships, which underlines the necessary roles and processes required for large-scale instruments in coordinating research to run efficiently

In addition to these, the work also featured a comprehensive set of policy recommendations that can contribute to shaping cultural heritage research at both national and transnational levels for several major categories of stakeholders and which can support the harmonisation of existing initiatives and programmes.

The work within RP2 therefore helped crystallise the foundations of RP1 into the final scientific results of the project, thus setting the research directions for the future Alliance, while the other project activities aimed at helping structure the future framework of the Partnership, under which the SRIA-guided activities would take place.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The basis for ARCHE's desired impacts is the following:
Outcome 1: Prepare a ground-breaking and novel coordination network on CH R&I policies and activities, including the arts and the cultural and creative sectors.
Outcome 2: Identify R&I domains with European added value that would justify future activities.
Outcome 3: Propose new ways to engage stakeholders, users of cultural heritage and the arts, social innovators, civil society and, in particular, the younger generation with cultural heritage and its role in shaping the perception of European societies as well as a European sense of belonging.
Outcome 4: Develop an open approach to cultural heritage and the arts, fostering curiosity for new developments and diversity, as well as emphasising their role in transmitting of knowledge and building a bridge from the past over the present to the future.

The project has successfully fulfilled all of above. In order to secure its legacy, the results related to the R&I domains with European added value would need to be taken into account in relevant policy documents, on both European and national levels, and be allocated the corresponding resources for implementation. Given the network outreach of the project and the outlook towards the future Alliance, the prospects are alreading building on a strong foundation.