To identify key issues, stimulate knowledge transfer across all parts of the heritage sector and develop cohesive and coordinated plans of action, the Centre for Global Heritage and Development initiates an annual ‘Big Issues Event’. The event will involve current and emerging leaders in thought and action from a range of NGOs, ministries, universities, heritage institutions, companies and freelancers, who will be invited to discuss heritage concerns on different scales, from specific local questions to more global ‘blue-sky’ issues.
Questions to be canvassed in the first instance would include:
- Are there key issues in common across the entire (Dutch?) heritage sector?
- What are they?
- How are they manifested in different areas of the sector (e.g. academia, government, civil society, commercial)?
- What should we do about them?
Mutual Benefit
The Big Issues Event is intended to work in two ways. First, it will strengthen ties across the sector and encourage coherent approaches to current issues in the heritage field. Second, the Event will help align educational programs with current themes and bring students into the debate.
The Centre for Global Heritage and Development uses its inter-university and interdisciplinary status to go beyond the traditional study of heritage, to focus on the ways in which heritage relates to cultural, social and environmental developments and decisions. The Centre aims to stimulate multidisciplinary heritage research and education, and has partnerships with a large number of stakeholders spanning academia, civil society, the commercial arena and public administration. The thematic programs of the Centre for Global Heritage and Development - Heritage and Identity, Heritage under Threat and Heritage and Environment - are linked with the Dutch National Science Agenda (NWA).
The first Big Issue event will be organized in November. Contact Mara de Groot for more information