Europe’s rich cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries (CCIs) play a significant role in shaping our present and building our future. However, they face numerous challenges that limit their scope and impact. Issues such as climate change, pollution, natural disasters, looting, and insufficient financing, hinder the protection, preservation, and promotion of European cultural heritage. Moreover, despite the high quality and quantity of cultural production, Europe’s CCIs to a large extent still struggle to compete internationally.
Recognizing the importance of cultural heritage and CCIs, Horizon Europe has taken a proactive approach to address these challenges. Cluster 2, within the Work Programme 2021-2022, focused on «Innovative Research on European Cultural Heritage and Cultural and Creative Industries – Building Our Future From the Past.» Within the first two years, Cluster 2 allocated a budget of 150.5 million EUR to research and innovation projects to tackle the identified issues.
Centred on three priority areas – Green, Digital, and Innovative - the booklet aims to present the diverse range of projects on cultural heritage and CCIs that have been supported by Cluster 2. These projects cover various areas, such as development of environmentally friendly technologies and methods for the management, restoration, and preservation of cultural heritage. They explore how to provide enriching digital experiences for citizens while creating new training opportunities to enhance digital knowledge and skills, particularly in less populated regions. They also devise ways to strengthen the innovation capacity of the CCIs and to leverage cultural heritage assets to drive innovation and competitiveness across multiple sectors of the economy.
These projects aspire to strengthen the protection, restoration, and promotion of cultural heritage, realize the full potential of arts and CCIs as drivers of sustainable innovation and transform the future of cultural heritage and CCIs, fostering social cohesion, inclusive growth, and a shared European identity.
Explore the diverse array of EU-funded projects in the cultural heritage domain and inspire your own endeavors in cultural heritage research, policymaking, and the advancement of the cultural sector.
Find the full publication here
