Arcada receives Horizon 2020 funding for cultural heritage project 

The Department of Culture and Media at Arcada receives EU’s Horizon 2020 funding together with a large consortium. A new project will create a model for sustainable world heritage management through a digital European network. 

The three-year ReInHerit project (Redefining the future of cultural heritage, through a disruptive model of sustainability) will start in March 2021 with 12 partners from six European countries: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Finland, Austria and Belgium. Together with its partners, Arcada will develop the cultural heritage sector by building digital tools and developing new ways to reach the audience. 

– We look forward to the knowledge our department will gain by both participating in and developing the cultural heritage sector in Europe. Our students will also have the opportunity to take part in the project through active participation during their studies, says Maria Bäck, Degree Programme Director in Cultural Management, who will coordinate the project at Arcada. 

The overall goal of ReInHerit is to create a model for sustainable heritage management which will foster a digital dynamic European network of heritage stakeholders. The model will be based on a digital ecosystem where all stakeholders, including museums, cultural heritage sites, decision-makers, professionals and communities, will get the tools and resources to communicate, experiment with, renew and distribute European cultural heritage. 

– ReInherit will strengthen the cultural heritage's position as an identity builder in the future. We hope that a concrete result is more jobs in the industry, also for Arcada's own students and alumni, says Bäck. 

The project will add value to Arcada through the completely new learning opportunity that is created through the joint work the project focuses on: to create a digital ecosystem for cultural and world heritage. Arcada will also employ a researcher for the project. The total project budget is EUR 3 million, of which Arcada's share is EUR 228,408. 

Arcada's partners in the project are: Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation (Cyprus), Asociación Arte Sostenible (Spain), University of Florence - MICC (Italy), European Cultural Tourism Network (Belgium), University of Nicosia (School of Law) (Cyprus) , Consorzio Materahub Industrie Culturali e Creative (Italien), Museum of Cycladic Art (Greece), University of Graz (Austrian Center for Digital Humanities) (Austria), Research Center of Interactive Media Smart Systems and Emerging Technologies (Cyprus), Blue Shield ( Greece) and Stadtmuseum Graz GmbH (Austria). 

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 1010404545 .