Relive Europeana 2022 - recorded sessions now available

We would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who attended, participated in and spoke at Europeana 2022. We were delighted that over 1,300 professionals, experts and students working in and around cultural heritage signed up to attend our first hybrid annual conference, joining over 80 speakers for more than 50 sessions and in person social events.  

Each day of the conference focused on a theme of importance to the cultural heritage sector, from the data space for cultural heritage to storytelling to technology. Panel sessions in the morning, and online and in person sessions in the afternoon inspired, informed and challenged participants on these topics, which were also given beautiful new interpretations from the conference’s resident Data Poet, Mr Gee. His words on the importance of sharing and collaboration have stayed with us even after the conference has finished: 

By exposing our art,

We expose our heart,

Such is the impact of the task,

To bring us all together.

Watch our conference recap video and read about the days below.

Exploring the data space for cultural heritage

On Wednesday 28 September, we were delighted to hear from Rehana Schwinninger-Ladak, Head of Unit 'Interactive Technologies, Digital for Culture and Education' at the European Commission, who opened the conference with inspiring words on the data space. She shared how important it was that, ‘In the age of virtual worlds and metaverses, we need to show, more than ever…our vision of a data space that empowers cultural heritage institutions.’

Harry Verwayen, General Director of the Europeana Foundation, then continued the morning with an exploration of this vision where, 'We should empower cultural heritage institutions to control the data.' This was followed by a panel discussion with fresh provocations and perspectives on the data space, moderated by Michael Peter Edson. Afternoon sessions on themes from culture and tourism to the role of youth in the data space further enriched participants’ understanding of the topic.

Stories, culture and society 

Thursday 29 September saw a focus on stories, culture and society. Award-winning author Olia Hercules gave an inspiring keynote exploring how social media, storytelling and food can bring people together and create positive change. She reflected movingly on the heritage of Ukrainian cooking and its documentation for her cookbook, Summer Kitchens, sharing how, ‘Even before the big war broke out, it felt really important to show what united us and you know, summer kitchens, to me, the food that we made, was symbolic of the bigger unity that we all felt.’ 

Interactive activities, a panel discussion and afternoon sessions all helped to shine a light further on engagement, reuse and storytelling in the cultural heritage sector.

Technology matters

Finally, on Friday 30 September, we heard from Caitlin Southwick, Executive Director of Ki Culture, an international nonprofit working to unite culture and sustainability. She explored the relationship that cultural heritage institutions have to the climate crisis, and the role that technologies can play in addressing these issues. Caitlin reflected that, ‘As the cultural sector we have a huge voice in social justice issues and it's important we speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves.’

Afternoon sessions helped to explore digitisation, sustainability, Europeana Research and more.  

Share your thoughts

If you joined us at Europeana 2022, we would love to hear about your experience. Even if you registered and weren’t able to attend, we still want to hear from you. We are always looking to improve our events and your feedback is valuable, so share your thoughts with us by 21 October 2022 12.00 CEST. 

If you registered for Europeana 2022, a survey link has been sent to you by email. The survey should take no more than five minutes to complete, and we’ll use what you share with us to improve the impact of our future events. Any questions? Email [email protected].

Rewatch the keynotes and panel sessions

Europeana 2022 offered such a wide variety of in-person, online and hybrid sessions, and it might not have been possible to follow all of the action! So we are delighted to share a selection of the recordings of the keynotes, panel, and afternoon sessions from the conference for you to explore and rewatch at your leisure. Watch them through our curated Youtube playlist.