Europeana China

Europeana China is a joint initiative from the China National Center for Culture Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences ‘CASS’, Recursive Technology, PostScriptum and Europeana Foundation. It began in December 2018, and aims to promote the digital preservation of Chinese - Asian - European cultural heritage through digitisation of cultural resources. In particular, the partnership will:  

• Facilitate cooperation between research and cultural institutions in China and Europe in the fields of digital cultural heritage;

• Explore possibilities for exchange of knowledge and best practices concerning digital cultural heritage platforms; 

• Explore ways to promote Chinese cultural heritage in Europe and, respectively, European cultural relics in China.

Events

The initiative was promoted at two high-profile events in China and Europe. At the invitation of Tsinghua University, Europeana’s Executive Director Harry Verwayen presented Europeana at the International Symposium on Cultural Heritage Conservation and Digitisation (CHCD) in Beijing on 13-14 September 2018. This biannual event attracts foreign experts from over 30 countries and regions, promoting a tradition of international collaboration and exchange on the theme of cultural heritage, digital technologies, conservation and digitisation. 

Furthermore, the Europeana China initiative was promoted during a dedicated networking session ‘EU-China: Silk Road Cultural Dialogues’ within the framework of the ‘ICT2018: Imagine Digital – Connect Europe’ event, organised by the European Commission and the Austrian presidency in December 2018 in Vienna. The session provided the opportunity to establish a closer relationship between interested parties from the digital cultural sector in Europe and China and to explore potential synergies and projects of common interest in the fields of cultural heritage conservation and digitisation. The session also focused on the discussion of various standards, techniques and solutions for digital heritage and cultural expression which are used in East and West. 

 Harry Verwayen, Executive Director of Europeana Foundation and Prof. Zhang Xiaoming, Deputy Director of the China National Center for Culture Studies of CASS signing the Europeana China Initiative, Europeana Network Association AGM 2018, Europeana, CC BY-SA

East Meets West in Greece Initiative starts. The EMWG Initiative was inaugurated at the Hellenic Ministry of Digital Policy in November 2018. EMWG and Europeana China share the same goal of establishing collaborations between parties in Europe and China in the cultural sector, especially around the promotion of cultural heritage through digitisation of cultural resources. The EMWG project also promotes European culture to China and ‘Belt Road Initiative' countries in a digital, interactive and immersive audiovisual edutainment way with social and economic impact. It also welcomes the Chinese digital culture ecosystem to Europe.

The PAGODE Project launches. The Pagode project, funded under CEF Europeana Generic Service programme, is running between April 2020 and August 2021. The project raises awareness of the value of establishing cultural bridges between Europe and China. The project encourages European cultural heritage institutions to provide new high-quality content related to Chinese cultural heritage to Europeana. Furthermore, the project mobilises and engages the general public in crowdsourcing activities to enrich Chinese cultural heritage material available in Europeana.       

Kostas Konstantinidis, Mina Karatza and Eric Cai of PostScriptum, Europeana’s Ambassador to China

Europeana Ambassador in China

To streamline exchange and discussions related to this partnership, we have entrusted our partners from PostScriptum as a main contact point for enquiries regarding the initiative in China, acting as our ‘ambassador.’ Over the past few years, they have initiated discussions with various Chinese universities, cultural organizations and government bodies around the digitisation of cultural heritage and the management of digital content in China. 

PostScriptum promotes Europeana in China through workshops and presentations at cultural heritage institutions and fosters opportunities for collaboration between Europeana and Chinese parties. 

For more information, please contact Kostas Konstantinidis at [email protected] or WeChat ID: KostasKonstantinidis