Monitoring cultural heritage policies with the European Heritage Hub
The European Heritage Hub is an EU pilot project which brings together a wide array of cultural heritage stakeholders to share expertise, pool resources and support the transition towards a more sustainable, digital and inclusive society. As a key element of its work, the project is developing an autonomous advocacy and knowledge platform which includes a Heritage Library, Social Forum and Policy Monitor to provide access to key information across the sector and help partners to build new connections.
The Policy Monitor (launched in February 2024) collects and analyses cultural heritage policies from across Europe. To date, the Policy Monitor gives access to over 510 policy documents from 33 countries in the EU and beyond. In order to give insights into these documents, and their evolution over time, the Heritage Hub project produces quarterly reports to observe trends, spot gaps and explore the policy landscape that exists in Europe.
Digital transformation in focus
The Europeana Foundation is a proud partner in the Heritage Hub project. Drawing on our expertise and experience in supporting the cultural heritage sector in its digital transformation and our role as the steward of the common European data space for cultural heritage, we were delighted to curate the Policy Monitor’s second quarterly report which focuses on digital policies - and are excited to share it with you today.
The report outlines preliminary observations, trends and findings on digital policies included in the Policy Monitor to this date. In particular, it highlights EU laws and policies, as well as national and regional digitisation strategies that aim to contribute to a ‘Triple transition’ in our sector, dealing with digital, green and social implications in a holistic way.
Specifically, the analysis suggests that while the social aspect seems to be broadly acknowledged, particularly in terms of ensuring access to culture and promoting ethical and inclusive uses of technology, references to the environmental dimension in digital policies is still in its early stages. The report also explores policy developments in relation to the EU AI Act and wider EU digital policy frameworks, such as the Digital Decade and the European strategy for data. It sheds light on the key principles and ambitions of broader EU policy frameworks in the digital field, and the opportunities they offer to the cultural heritage sector.
Find out more and get involved
You can read the full report and stay tuned for the next Policy Monitor review which will be released in autumn 2024.
Discover all of the ways that you can get involved in the project on the Heritage Hub website.
To join the discussion about digital transformation, we encourage you to sign up for the Heritage Hub Social Forum, where there is a group dedicated to discussions and sharing resources on digital transformation, and join the Europeana Network Association, for the latest updates focusing on digital transformation across the cultural heritage sector!