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RECHARGE

RECHARGE sets out to support the sustainability of the cultural sector by investing in the power of community participation for cultural heritage institutions, such as archives, museums and libraries.

RECHARGE sets out to support the sustainability of the cultural sector by investing in the power of community participation for cultural heritage institutions, such as archives, museums and libraries.

Logo van Recharge

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted that while cultural heritage institutions (CHIs) play an important role in engaging citizens with culture and with each other, as well as supporting their mental wellbeing, many CHIs face financial losses. Participation and co-creation are key to the value proposition of CHIs and can be the means through which communities, corporations, citizens or other CHIs, become even more actively involved as CHI stakeholders. It is therefore crucial to develop the resilience of the sectors by integrating the value generated by participation and co-creation into the specific business model of each organisation. 

The RECHARGE project aims to develop replicable and sustainable participatory models to help support cultural heritage institutions. Through these new business models, CHIs will be able to diversify their funding portfolio and integrate co-creation standards more profoundly into their ways of working.

The three-year project brings together a consortium made up of different heritage institutions, such as museums, archives, research institutions, and participatory facilitators to set up an iterative and intrinsically participatory environment - the Living Labs - as a means to co-create and test models that will enhance the social, cultural and economic value of our cultural heritage. The project will combine rigorous academic research and hands-on analysis to document and analyse this process of business model innovation so that other CHIs can learn from this process and put it into practice. Capacity building activities and easy-to-use tools will ensure that learnings will be transferred to other cultural institutions and take an important step in cementing co-creation as a way of working in the sector. 

Sound & Vision

Sound & Vision is leading research to investigate current best practices in forming impactful partnerships and/or collaborations, ensuring that existing benchmarks serve as a starting point for the participatory models. Sound & Vision is also leading capacity building activities to scale and transfer the research results to other cultural institutions.

Register now!

Register for the newsletter on the RECHARGE website to join an open and collaborative platform and receive updates on research, resources and opportunities to co-create.

Project Partners

Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (project coordinator), Fundacja Centrum Cyfrowe, Fundacion Goteo, European Fashion Heritage Association, Creativity Lab OU, Universidad de Valladolid, Sihtasutus Eesti Meremuuseum, Fondazione Museo del Tessuto di Prato, and the Hunt Museum.