AT(2014)551 25.11.14

HEREIN:for European heritage policies

10th Meeting of the National Coordinators

Mons (Belgium), 19-20 November 2014

Aide Mémoire

The HEREIN Coordinators were invited to discuss future directions to be taken in order to attain the 2014-2015 objectives set by the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP) [document CDCPP(2014)8, March 2014 plenary meeting]. Firstly, 2014 objectives should be considered as achieved: indeed, the HEREIN data base (System) is operational and contains 25 national reports (heritage policies), while an additional ten countries are working on the publication of theirs. It is on this positive basis that the Steering Committeerequested to initiate the transformation of the data base into a “knowledge base”, enabling the interpretation of the data now available and the production of contents [document CDCPP(2013)20, “Draft programme of work 2014-2015”: “The HEREIN Information System is developed into a knowledge base for the European Heritage Network”].

The discussions took place as part of four working sessions, and led to the following decisions / tasks which define the “Road Map” for the next 6 months:

  1. Coordinators’ contributions

Priority contributions

1.1The expected fundamental contribution from the Coordinators is the publication and regular update of the national reports. The System has been adapted in order to facilitate this task. The revision and update of the National reports should be carried out every time major changes/decisions occur (on a continuous basis). However, a systematic and global revision should be done every autumn in order to validate the information in the data base.The Secretariat provides technical assistance when requested by Coordinators.

1.2As part of a new “Guidelines document”, the“questionnaire” will be simplified (classification of questions in priority 1, 2 and 3),and explanations will be provided for facilitating the use of the revised questionnaire (see § 3.4 below);

1.3AllNational reports should be published (and/or revised) before 7 March 2015(at least priority 1 questions – see Guidelines).The other countries will have until the Steering Committee’splenary meeting in June 2015 to publish their reports,in order to confirm their effective participation in the HEREIN project.It must be underlined that the national reports can be progressively publishedtheme by theme.

1.4The “Country profiles”have to be posted before the end of February 2015. Theywill serve asthe main material to be used for the purpose of the Publication (see § 3.6 below). Terms of Reference will be provided by the Secretariat. They will explain the guidelines to draft the summary of the situation (based on the legal and norms framework). It will also include a list of the main legal documents, the structure of competencies (together with a chart), the conventions ratified, links with national legislation, etc.

1.5Coordinators are invited to provide photos (copyright-free, together with captions) to be included in the country profile and HEREIN gallery.

1.6Coordinators are invited to disseminateinformation about HEREINto their contributors in their countries and to associated institutions, in order to increase visibility of the System vis-à-vis other potential contributors or users.Coordinators will be supported by communication tools and Secretariat workshops (see § 2.2.e,3.8 and 3.9 below).

Optional contributions

1.7Case studies: based on the example of Mons (session 4 of the 10thcoordination meeting), Coordinators are invited to take the initiative to prepare case studies. The Secretariat will provide Terms of Reference defining the format. The publication of several case studies on the web site would increase visibility, and clarify the usefulness of HEREIN.

1.8Crowdfindings:the aim of the procedure is to provide material for exchanges between Correspondents and for the database itself. Rules to be applied by Coordinators are defined in the document AT(2014)281 (see also § 2.3 below). Participation is optional.

Further contributions (to be detailed later on)

1.9The Coordinators will be invited to send a “Post Card” (form and content to be defined within the Terms of Reference) once a year, after the autumn global revision and update of the national reports,. The aim is to explain major changes which have occurred during the year, the main issues at stake, challenges or ongoing debates, and to explain tendencies. The collection of these country “Post Cards” will provide an opportunity to keep a record of what has happened, to highlight evolutions, as well as convergences or divergences between the countries.

  1. Network’s contribution

2.1The Secretariat will contact some Coordinators to be invited as part of the “think tank” depending on the agenda or pending questions. The “think tank” will meetas and when the Secretariat requires, and is requested to respond by e-mail to any request addressed by Coordinators to the Secretariat regarding changes or improvementsto the System. A first meeting will be convened in January 2015.

2.2“Working groups” will be set upwith clear objectives (to be defined by the Think Tank) as regards the main priority issues underlined during the Mons discussions. Open call will be addressed to invite Coordinators to participate on a voluntary basis. All the suggested working groups could not be launched at the same time, so the Secretariat will propose a time frame according to priorities and opportunities. Amongst the working groups which should be progressively set up, will be those aimed at:

  1. carrying out a reflection on the questionnaire: there is a need to define or improve the questions (without changing the thematic structure), especially by developing spaces for commentsor introductions (the working group will have to define guidelines on how to fill in the questionnaire). The improvement of the questionnaire should strengthen the collection of pure facts and limit the expression of analysis (which should be further developed as part of the future “knowledge base”). It should also improve the integration of thesaurus terminology.
  2. proceeding with the mapping of the main actors in the field of heritage. This mapping has been requested by the CDCPP.
  3. investigating on target groups and possible uses for HEREIN (as regards its mandate but also the external demands and opportunities (e.g. countries are using HEREIN to accompany reforms; the Council of Europe uses HEREIN to followup the implementation of the conventions and carry out assistance to countries; external partners might have their own specific requirements). The working group might clarify the situation according to the terms of HEREIN’s mandate, and indicate possible/suitable tendencies, so that the evolution could be organised in time.
  4. investigating further about the meaning and possibilities regarding the “knowledge base” (to exchange, compare, analyse and monitor). The results of this working group could be used for the next coordination meeting and lead rapidly to recommendations (with a view to the Steering Committee’snext plenary meeting).
  5. defining and designing the most relevant communication tools to be provided to Coordinators in order to facilitate their tasks in disseminating information about HEREIN.
  6. Additional opportunities: working group on the “Publication”

2.3Coordinators are strongly invited to respond to “crowdfindings” which will be circulated through the web.The “crowdfindings” tool is designed both to enhance the capacity of the Network to pool and process thematic or specific information, in response, for example, to requests from institutions or to specific problems. Subjects proposed should not overlap with questions developed in the System, but should be more specific or require more transversal or complementary collection of information.

2.4Depending on opportunities and demands to be formulated by countries, the Network could be solicited to set up “Interpretation/analysis Groups” in order to respond to requests for assistance. This assistance should correspond to complex or very specific questions which cannot be subject of a crowdfindings. This Network assistance should not overlap either with the usual Council of Europe Technical Cooperation and Consultancy.

  1. Secretariat’s contribution

3.1The Secretariat will publish the main reference documents (CDCPP documents related to HEREIN)on the web site, the “letter of the 22”, an introductory text inspired by the opening speech of Mr Bruno Favel, Chair of the CDCPP, etc.).

3.2The five countries which have not yet responded to the Secretariat’s requests will be contacted at CDCPP members’ level (by letter signed by the CDCPP Chair).

3.3The Secretariat will provide additional visibility to the Coordinators by associating the countries CDCPP members in contacts and exchanges. Moreover, the description of Coordinators’ tasks will be revised (in line with the Mons discussions and the present Road Map) in order to underline the specificity and the level of contribution expected.

3.4Terms of Reference and guidelines documents will be provided to Coordinators regarding all expected contributions defined within the present Aide Mémoire, in order to harmonise the contributions. This includes in particularthe Guidelines document related to the questionnaire, which will usethe Bern meeting recommendations (2012) as well as the Mons 10th coordination meeting in order to focus on a limited number of questions considered to be the most important/relevant.

3.5On the basis of the national heritage reports published, the Secretariat will organise the presentation of HEREIN to the Council of Europe’s managing bodies (Committee of Ministers, Parliamentary Assembly, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, etc.).

3.6The Secretariat will oversee the “Publication” to be presented to the Steering Committee’s next plenary meeting. The content of the publication should mainly come from the countrieson the basis of the expected contributions mentioned above (§ 1 and 2). The Secretariat will provide information about Council of Europe priorities and the links and vision regarding HEREIN’s role. A working group might be set up to support the Secretariat. The complete texts of the Publication should be made available (final version) in English and French by the end of March 2015 in order to allow timely publication. Either there will be sufficient contributions from countries (and only the contributors will be mentioned), or the level of contribution will be insufficient and the project will be abandoned.

3.7Technical assistance will continue to be provided to Coordinators who require it. The assistance could be provided by e-mail or phone, but where necessary, in the form of missions or meetings.

3.8Moreover, the Secretariat wishes to test some “workshops” in countries. The objective would be to “train/inform” the Coordinators, and/or inform about/promote HEREIN with the national stakeholders and authorities.

3.9Generally speaking, the Secretariat will continue to improve the System and will systematically enhance countries’ contributions, especially the country profiles, case studies, post cards and so on. According to the results of the working group (see § 2.2.e above), communication tools will be designed and proposed to Coordinators. The System will be continuously improved (e.g. with an alert to all Coordinators when contributions are posted in the data base).

3.10Relevant documents and information related to Council of Europe technical assistance and projects will be included in the data base (compendium of reference texts, technical assistance reports, heritage assessment reports), as well as connection with the ongoing Faro Action Plan, European Heritage Days Network and possible future projects (e.g. COMUS and STePs.

3.11An intermediary activity report and working document on internal governance will be drafted. The second will explain the functioning of the Think Tank, of the working groups, and so on.

3.12Possible partnerships will be investigated further through the identification of needs and demands, but also depending on how HEREIN develops (what the System and the Network can really propose or what they need to achieve their mandate).

  1. The Coordinators who participated in the 10th Coordination meeting in Mons are sincerely thanked for their contributions to the discussions. Thanks also go to Ms Anna Peirera Roders for her presentation (session 3) and offers of future collaboration, as well as to the city of Mons for its welcome and participation insession 4. A special vote of thanks goes to Mr Bruno Favel, Chair of the CDCPP for his contribution and support, and to the Walloon Region,for the perfect organisation of the meeting, in particular to Mr Pierre Paquet, Inspector General, Ms Gislaine Devillers,Chair of the HEREIN aisbl, and Ms Yvonne Poty.

Mikhael de Thyse

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