On 9th and 10th of June the representatives of the Commission Expert Group on Cultural Heritage (CH), set up to give independent advice on cultural policies and to ensure a follow-up of the European Year on CH 2018-related initiatives, gathered online to discuss current challenges for the sector. The Group is unique in its composition, made of experts issued from national, international and stakeholder organisations, including ERRIN, that give voice to the wide community of professionals, operators, ministries, regional authorities etc. active in the sector of cultural policies and cultural heritage promotion and enhancement.

The Group is led and facilitated by EU Officials in charge of cultural heritage policies at different levels and from all perspectives: DG EAC (Chair), DG RTD, DG GROW, DG CNECT, DG ENER, and the JRC. The European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions also took part in the discussion and gave the important perspective of the inter-institutional engagement for culture, particularly in response to the current crisis, and contributed to the activation of platforms in support of cultural stakeholders during the pandemic.

The meeting addressed many different areas where continuous support is needed for the promotion and preservation of cultural heritage (such as the health crisis caused by COVID-19), but also areas where cultural heritage can contribute to addressing cross-cutting challenges or foster development, if integrated, horizontal strategies are implemented (such as climate change mitigation and adaptation).

While Commissioner Gabriel emphasised the need for concerted action and stronger synergies between funding instruments to support the relaunch of the cultural sector after the COVID-19 pandemic, other EC representatives focused their presentations on existing and foreseen activities and platforms that the Commission launched in the last months to strengthen collaboration and information exchange on culture-related actions from all over Europe.

The second part of the meeting, on June 10th, focused on very specific aspects and addressed the pillars of the phenomena of Digitalisation and Climate Change in terms of challenges for CH.

For the full report of the meeting compiled by Mariachiara Esposito, (Tuscany Region), co-leader of the Cultural Heritage & Tourism working group and member of the Expert Group, please see the attached documents.