Setting the cultural heritage research agenda

UCL has contributed to setting the European research agenda relating to cultural heritage and global change. A UCL-led workshop held in December 2011 resulted in the League of European Research Universities (LERU) Declaration on the Joint Programming Initiative 'Cultural Heritage and Global Change: A New Challenge for Europe' (The UCL Declaration) . Joint Programming provides a new framework within which European Union Member States jointly address areas where public research programmes may help respond to major societal challenges. The process involves identifying a Common Vision, defining a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for the coming decade and implementing it through a Joint Programming Initiative (JPI). The UCL Declaration has been approved by LERU and submitted to the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage & Activities (the Joint Programme's Coordinator) and the UK Arts & Humanities Research Council (the Joint Programme Partner developing the SRA over the next year). The process through which The UCL Declaration was arrived at offers a model for effective engagement with the policy environment at a strategic level. Professor David Price Professor May Cassar (UCL Centre for Sustainable Heritage) led the workshop, with support from the UCL European Institute, the UCL European Research & Development Office and the UCL Grand Challenge of Intercultural Interaction.