5 steps to understanding Europe what can the archaeological community do to be more influential?

Full title: Crash course: five steps to understanding Europe what can the archaeological community do to be more influential?

It’s not easy to keep up with developments within Europe right now. As relatively small archaeological sector it’s difficult to get on grip on things, and see and understand what opportunities are appearing before us. It might be tempting, and even understandable, to just lay back, feel overwhelmed and grumpy and see what happens. For those who don’t want to give in to this temptation this crash course might be interesting. In five steps you will be brought to more understanding. The lecture will start off with a short overview of interesting developments within te Council of Europe and the European Union and speculate on possible outcomes of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. Next I will make an analysis on the relevance of these developments for the archaeological heritage community. What opportunities do we see? What strategies do we need? And - most important - what possible actions can we undertake? The leitmotiv for answering these questions is the need to position ourselves within framework of cultural heritage as a whole. More and more cultural heritage is seen as an important asset for society and international cooperation. It’s sensible for the archaeological community to piggyback on this movement. Focus will be given on the activities and position of Europae Archaeologiae Consillium (EAC), and the so-called Amersfoort Agenda. As an organisation of governmental organisations, EAC has a special position. Although archaeologists often expect otherwise, EAC cannot engage in advocacy activities. But we can be very effective, playing a role between national governments, international institutions and non-governmental organisations like EAA.

Author(s): de Wit, Leonard (Europe)