The ECHOES Second Policy Event, “Towards a distributed, multi-level, collaborative governance for the Cultural Heritage Cloud”, took place in Brussels on Thursday, the 5th February 2026.
The day was kicked off by the inspiring words of political and institutional representatives, among whom MEP Christian Ehler, who reiterated his support for the Cloud, and for cultural heritage in general. The strong presence of the European Commission – with representatives from DGs RTD, CNECT and EAC, and the European Research Executive Agency – as well as of the Committee of the Regions was greatly appreciated, highlighting yet again the cross-institution and multi-scale nature of the collaboration within the initiative.
At the heart of this event were the aims of the Cultural Heritage Cloud governance: gathering fragmented communities, coordinating and leveraging complementarity with existing infrastructures, and fostering representation, inclusivity and democratic processes. To tackle these challenging tasks, the two-phase preliminary plan for the Cultural Heritage Cloud legal entity was presented. The proposed structure aims to support a federative, integrated ecosystem where access to tools and services is fair, communities are united, and innovation is encouraged.
Meaningful conversations were opened in the two roundtables of the afternoon: the first with a triple-level panel – European, national and regional – the second, with representatives from Cultural Heritage infrastructures. From the discussions, the important topics of the day emerged again: multi-scale cooperation, to multiply the beneficial effects of the initiative; and the importance of strong political support for Cultural Heritage.
The outcomes of the Event will make a important contribution to the ECHOES report on governance, due to be published this summer.
