EUHeritage – Skills for the promotion, valorisation, exploitation, mediation and interpretation of the European cultural heritage

EUHeritage aims to contribute to the cultural policies of the European Commission in terms of an integrated approach on the cultural heritage for Europe, with the goal to improve the training and retraining of the workforce in the field of heritage, in order to tackle the trends and challenges of the sector.

According to the reports published within the research on the skills, training and transfer of knowledge in the field of cultural heritage, conducted within the structured dialogue between the European Commission and the cultural sector, there is proof of an increasingly higher shortage of skills in terms of cultural heritage, regarding the adaptation to the new approach in the context of a very specialised, extremely demanding, digitally ever-changing skills market.

The sector of heritage in Europe is facing multiple challenges, from an aged workforce to technological changes that shakes off the traditional models, requiring new approaches and abilities. Furthermore, the sector must be able to react to the new demands coming from the new and diverse public, in terms of new uses of the cultural heritage, of new opportunities related to the information and communication technology, as well as in terms of the growth of demand of customised experiences / offers.

In February 2019, the first project meeting took place in Matera, Italy. Besides INCFC, the consortium is made from organisations, research institutes, universities from Italy, Spain, Malta, Romania, Belgium, Germany, as well as ENCATC (the European Network of Cultural Management and Policies).

The project is developed on a period of 36 months (2019-2021), focusing on an experimental approach, implementing an inter-sectoral and multidisciplinary methodology, which will enhance the heritage sectors’ potential of connection with other sectors, i.e. tourism, technology, creative and cultural industries, entrepreneurship and business.

EUHeritage generally addresses the professionals working in the field of cultural heritage, involved in activities of promotion, valorisation, exploitation and interpretation of the cultural heritage, focusing on:

• development and retraining of the professionals in the field;
• developing a single offer of training for the skills related to the cultural heritage, an offer more connected, organised and able to engage local communities and other sectors, through entrepreneurial activities, focused on audience development and digital skills.

Project goals:

• Defining a set of skills required in the cultural heritage sector, based on the data analysis, on the strengths and vast experience of the consortium in the field of training and analysis of needs;
• Developing the European professional profiles for the professionals working in the field of promotion, valorisation, exploitation, mediation and interpretation of the cultural heritage (level 6 EQF);
• Planning a needs-oriented course of innovative training, integrating several sectoral and transversal skills, including digital, entrepreneurial and soft-utilisation abilities.
• Building e-learning platforms within open educational resources;
• Producing learning materials integrating the perspectives and results produced in the sectors of cultural heritage, culture and tourism in Europe.

The EUHeritage project belongs to the Erasmus+ Program, Cooperation for innovation and good practice exchange component – Sector Skills Alliance

ARTICLES

• EU Heritage international piloting: training programs on cultural heritage
• EU Heritage: Skills profile for Cultural Heritage Report
• Documenting the activities through research – The second meeting of the EU Heritage partners in Malta