CHARTER – European Cultural Heritage Skills Alliance (2021-2024)
The Erasmus+ funded project started in January 2021 and will last for the next four years. CHARTER seeks to create a lasting, comprehensive sectoral skills strategy to guarantee Europe has the necessary cultural heritage skills to support sustainable societies and economies, including transversal competencies such as digital/technological and green/blue economy skills. The consortium unites 28 members that represent some of the top education and training, organisations, networks and employers of the European cultural heritage sector.
European Historic Houses will contribute in WP[1-7] dedicated to Project Coordination and Management; Strategic analysis of Cultural Heritage competencies and occupational profiles; Vocational Education and Training (VET); Sectoral and professional dynamics; Alliances, Sustainable Strategies and Policy recommendations; Communication and Dissemination; and Quality and Evaluation.
For more information, please click here.
CHARTER has launched its first promotional video to have a quick overview of the Erasmus+ funded project’s context, mission and aims. We’re delighted to invite you to watch this new content! As partners, we join other 46European cultural heritage organisations to ensure a long-lasting and durable sector. Over four years, the Erasmus+ funded project will professionalise the sector and further demonstrate its contribution to sustainable and thriving societies and economies. For more information, please click here.
Latest News: the CHARTER Alliance consortium met in Vienna for its first in-person General Meeting
The CHARTER Alliance EU project held its first in-person General Meeting since it was launched in early 2021. From 5-7 July 2022, the consortium met in Vienna, Austria, to discuss methods of reaching out to the cultural heritage community. Three days of intensive work, exchange and discussion took place, ratifying the high commitment and hard work of all the working packages.
The Academy of Fine Arts hosted the conference and meetings, which focused on three main topics:
- The identification of gaps and needs in the cultural heritage labour market and consequences for the education and training sector.
- A mid-term assessment of the ecosystem model of cultural heritage
- The presentation of hypotheses and preliminary conclusions arising from 1 ½ years of intensive internal discussions and work.
On the final meeting day, July 7th, external stakeholders were invited to join the discussions and talks. This open-day for stakeholders started with a session dedicated to what we have learned so far in the project. The importance of physical meetings and engaging with EU bodies was highlighted during this meeting.
CHARTER Alliance is the winner of Best Social Media Activity in the EU Social Media Awards for Erasmus+ projects
CHARTER Alliance launches NEW CHARTER Community for external interested stakeholders
The European Cultural Heritage Skills Alliance CHARTER launched its CHARTER Community programme for external stakeholders interested in connecting and engaging with the Erasmus+ project.
The CHARTER Community represents the first step for creating the future sustainable and resilient alliance the project will provide by its end in 2024. The community seeks to join forces with different actors in the cultural heritage sector who want to establish a connection with CHARTER and support its mission and goals.
There are two levels of engagement to be chosen. CHARTER Supporters are expected to help the project’s dissemination and visibility, endorsing its results and developments within their own network of contacts. CHARTER Contributors will support dissemination but will additionally share a case study or best-practice document for the project’s research groups.
The CHARTER Community members will become part of the project’s list of interested stakeholders, receiving first-hand updates and calls-to-action, and may be consulted for information/feedback, surveys, and participation in the future. Both Supporters and Contributors will receive logos, banners and a communication kit.
CHARTER Alliance releases a new report: “Cultural heritage education & training in Europe – pathways to qualifications”
CHARTER Alliance releases a new report about European education & training schemes. The Erasmus+ funded project, European Cultural Heritage Skills Alliance, has released a new report: “Cultural heritage education & training in Europe – pathways to qualifications” by Working Package 3 (Vocational Education and Training [VET] and beyond).
Education and Training (E&T) are at the heart of all Blueprint alliances, initiatives set up by the European Commission in order to solve skills shortages in certain employment sectors. Skills needs can only be addressed effectively by first identifying existing skills gaps and, last, by filling these gaps through E&T opportunities which are fit- to-purpose and support the overall sectoral strategy.
In this line, the new CHARTER report addresses the European E&T schemes, describing and analysing its many layers. At the same time, this extensive research is aimed towards developing the methodology for the data collection on E&T institutions and programmes in the cultural heritage (CH). The indicators selected and explained in the report will be the ones that the future E&T database will collect. This instrument will be essential to CHARTER’s research in order to identify skills shortages and gaps in the cultural heritage sector.
CHARTER Alliance publishes its first result and presents a new model for the cultural heritage sector
The European Cultural Heritage Skills Alliance CHARTER, Erasmus+ funded project, released its first public deliverable: “A new landscape for heritage professions – preliminary findings” by Working Package 2 (Strategic analysis of cultural heritage competences and occupational profiles). The report summarises the work and preliminary findings that the WP2 has developed over the past six months.
The report presents the development of a new integrated model for the cultural heritage sector, defining its breadth, dynamics and boundaries in relation to existing cultural, statistical, occupational and economic conceptual definitions, policy principles and frameworks. The model reflects the evolving discourse about cultural heritage and is aligned with the concept of cultural heritage as a “shared resource and common good”, which impacts human, economic and social wellbeing.
The model conveys holistic principles while being applicable in economic and social assessments and policies, proposing cultural heritage as a discrete domain on its own, with specific functions for its full realization.
The report is the result of desk research on the contemporary discourse in cultural heritage, as evidenced in recent policy documents, reports and latest conceptual frameworks, assessment of current statistical indicators and brainstorming sessions with the CHARTER consortium for contributions and validation of the ongoing results.
Access the Full report in the Results section of CHARTER’s website.
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Framework & aims
The contextual framework in which the project emerges comes from the lack of statistical recognition of the cultural heritage sector as an economic force. Occupations and activities within the sector are not included in statistical descriptors for economic activities and occupational profiles, leading to undermine cultural heritage potential of bringing awareness and activity to strengthen European cultural identities and social cohesion. The CHARTER Alliance aims to:
- Clarify occupational roles and activities and create the tools for an integrated, responsive education system.
- Identify curricula and learning outcomes over a sample group in order to equip education and training to respond to current and future cultural heritage skills needs.
- Put a structure on cultural heritage as an economically active sector.
Consortium
The CHARTER Alliance reunites leading academic and training, employer and policy stakeholders in the European cultural heritage sector. The Consortium is formed by 21 full members, 7 affiliate partners and 19 associate members, of 14 EU states.
FULL MEMBERS
Academic / Training field:
Universitat de Barcelona (Spain)
Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien (Austria)
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
Fondazione Scuola dei Bieni e delle Attività Culturali (Italy)
Göterborgs Universiteit (Sweden)
Università degli studi di Genova (Italy)
Université Sorbonne Paris 13 Nord (France)
Industry / Employers partners:
Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Ireland)
FARO. Vlaams steunpunt voor cultureel erfgoed (Belgium)
Institutul National al Patrimoniului (Romania)
Kultur und Arbeit (Germany)
MUSEOVIRASTO, National Board of Antiquities (Finland)
Nacionālā kultūras mantojuma pārvalde (Latvia)
Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo (Italy)
Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije (Slovenia)
An Chomhairle Oidhreachta – The Heritage Council HC (Ireland)
European / International networks:
E.C.C.O. – European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers’ Organisations
Verband der Restauratoren
ENCATC – European Network for Cultural Management and Policy
European Historic Houses
ERRIN – European Regions Research and Innovation Network
ICOMOS – International Council on Monuments and Sites
NEMO – Network of European Museums Organisations (Deutscher Museumsbund)
Regions:
ADRAL – Agência de Desenvolvimento Regional de Alentejo (Alentejo, Portugal)
Eusko Jaurlaritzaren (Euskadi, Spain)
Freie Hansestadt Bremen (Bremen, Germany)
Regione Toscana (Toscana, Italy)
Västra Götalands Läns Landsting (Västra Götalands, Sweden)
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
ICCROM- The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
ICOM – International Council of Museums | ICOM-CC and ICOM-ICTOP
European Network for Conservation Restoration Education (ENCoRE)
Europa Nostra
European Association for Architectural Education
Direzione Generale Educazione, Ricerca e Istituti Culturali (Italy)
Office of Public Works (Ireland)
Istituto Centrale per la Patologia degli Archivi e del Libro (Italy)
Historic Environment Scotland (UK)
Regione Lombardia (Italy)
Viceconsejería de Cultura y Patrimonio Cultural. Gobierno de Canarias (Spain)
Complexul National Muzeal ASTRA (Romania)
ART-ER Attractiveness Research Territory – Emilia-Romagna (Italy)
Pôle patrimoine. Réseau de coopération des acteurs du patrimoine culturel en Pays de la Loire (France)
Teatro Pubblico Pugliese (Italy)
EXARC – Experimental Archaeology (The Netherlands)
Swedish Association for Building Conservation Contractors and Consultants (Sweden)