European Cultural Heritage Summit 2024: here are some HeritACT’s highlights

Written By Ideas For Change

Between 6 and 8 October, HeritACT travelled to Bucharest to get inspired at the Europa Nostra's European Cultural Heritage Summit 2024. Here we tell you how it went and share some key highlights.

The 2024 edition of the renowned European Cultural Heritage Summit was held in Bucharest from 6 to 8 October. The summit was organised by Europa Nostra and its Romanian partner, in cooperation and with the support of the European Commission. For four days, 800 professionals, political authorities and international organisations from all over Europe gathered to discuss some of the most pressing challenges of relevance to Europe's cultural heritage sites and stakeholders, such as the responsible digital and ecological transition for and with cultural heritage. Can we trust AI to do the thinking for us? What role can Cultural Heritage play? Is small tech the answer? How can we generate urgent action? Are we self-critical enough? These are just some of the questions that have arisen.

In the picture, one of the Forum’s venues (picture taken on the spot by Leen Vanderschueren)

On the first day (the European Heritage Excellence Day), the 26 winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2024 presented their inspiring projects and key learning to the wider public in the magnificent venue of the Romanian Athenaeum, the most prestigious concert hall in Bucharest. The presentations were divided into five sessions dedicated to the five categories of the Award: 1) Conservation and Adaptive Reuse; 2) Research; 3) Education, Training and Skills; 4) Citizen Involvement and Awareness Raising; 5) Heritage Champions. Although all the 26 projects were extremely inspiring, it is worth mentioning just a few that have a strong thematic link with HeritACT:

  • Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, UK (category: Conservation and adaptive reuse): an adaptable workspace, leisure destination and social enterprise hub, representing an interesting example of sustainable restoration, with a focus on social impact.

  • Teryan Cultural Center – Empowering Armenian Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia (category: Education, training and skills): in the face of the extreme adversity that Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh face, culture and heritage have been utilised to foster pride and create a sense of hope for the future.

  • The Square Kilometre, Belgium (category: Citizens’ engagement & awareness-raising): a visionary project that, through stories collected during walks with citizens in the most diverse areas of Ghent, has resulted in increased ownership of heritage by the local community and a greater understanding of the city’s heritage.

On October 7th we attended the European Heritage Hub Forum 'Championing a responsible digital transition for and with cultural heritage', held in the spectacular venue of the National Museum of Art. The Forum was organised under the framework of the EU-funded European Heritage Hub pilot project, whose online Community of Practice was joined by HeritACT through its partner ENCC.

The first panel conversation focused on the responsible use of AI in the cultural sector, featuring insights from Oonagh Murphy, Senior Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a video provocation by Paul Keller, Co-Founder of Open Future. By sharing inspiring examples, contributors emphasised the need for an ethical framework for AI use and called for a critical use by cultural heritage professionals. The potential of the creative and cultural sectors, referred to as ‘interested investigators’, in providing a platform for critical discourse on technology was stressed. Among the projects mentioned were DE-BIAS and AI4CULTURE. One of the problems highlighted by the speakers is that “we are lagging behind”, as most AI applications are being tested behind the closed walls of BigTech, while what is publicly accessible is but a fraction of the big picture. We can easily predict that knowledge in the cultural heritage sector can and will be manipulated. To help the cultural heritage sector catch up, it is essential to secure funding, develop use cases, share insights, and encourage policymakers to invest in best practices for AI.

In the picture, Leen Vanderschueren from the European Network of Cultural Centres (HeritACT partner), live-testing some beautiful, state-of-the-art digital, AI and augmented reality projects designed to enhance user experience, for educational and social purposes. In the picture: the Seeing without Sight project. (Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/europanostra/albums/72177720320575478/)

The second panel conversation focused on an environmentally responsible digital transition in cultural heritage. Insights were shared by Michelle Thorne, Director for Strategy and Partnerships at the Green Web Foundation, along with a provocation from Michael Peter Edson, founding director of the Museum of Solutions. Speakers advocated for transparency about the environmental costs of technology and stressed the need to strengthen democratic participation, as well as the importance of education and youth involvement. With a (rightly) provocative tone, they stressed how "we are not moving fast enough" and how knowing the (environmental) problem often makes us feel like we have already addressed it. We need to increase the sense of urgency around the climate crisis and be more bold.

In the picture, Michael Peter Edson from Wikimedia Commons presenting ‘The Big Frikin’ Wall’. (picture taken on the spot by Leen Vanderschueren)

The main outcome of the Heritage Hub Forum was the forceful Call to Action 'Championing a Responsible Digital Transition for and with Cultural Heritage', to ensure heritage holds a central place in Europe’s Digital Transformation. The Call serves as an advocacy tool to convey key messages to decision makers at all levels of governance.

The Forum was a unique experience for us to exchange with professionals and organisations working on cultural heritage cutting-edge practices, research and policies, as well as the perfect space to share insights on the research carried out in our project. We are glad to be part of this vibrant community and will continue to strive for a responsible ecological and digital transition with and for the cultural heritage sector, in line with the European Heritage Hub Call to Action.

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