The ECHOES Second Annual Event: Conference Summary

The mission of ECHOES is to bring to life the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH). This is a shared platform designed to facilitate collaboration between heritage professionals and researchers, enabling them to modernize workflows and processes. The platform will provide access to data, modern scientific and training resources, and advanced digital tools—all developed jointly by the heritage community to meet its specific needs.

ECHOES will integrate currently dispersed environments in the Cultural Heritage (CH) sector, connecting diverse actors from multiple fields and disciplines into a cohesive community centered around Digital Commons.

The meeting in Poznań primarily served for reporting on progress, presenting results achieved so far, and planning activities for the coming months. The event inaugurated the Steering Committee meeting, followed by an official opening session with participation from Aleksandra Nowak, Head of the Digital Libraries and Knowledge Platforms Department at PCSS, and Xavier Rodier, Director of Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (MSH), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS).

Key program points included sessions on RP1 reporting and the General Assembly, during which important decisions were made for the project’s future; a programmatic presentation on the PIAST-AI factory and its key role in developing modern culture; as well as discussion panels with sister projects focused on building a shared data space.

The culmination of the intensive week of work was an event at the National Museum in Poznań. It was there, surrounded by valuable artifacts, that discussions took place on the future of the European Cultural Heritage Cloud and strengthening collaboration in the digital world. It was a time of intensive exchange of experiences, which will tangibly influence how we protect and share Europe’s cultural treasures in the coming years.