First E-ROUTES international scientific and professional conference entitled “Enhancing Heritage Experience – Exploring Cultural Routes” was held in Šibenik in the period 22 – 25 March 2023, within the 8th days ICARUS Croatia. The coordinator of the conference was ICARUS Croatia in cooperation with the E-ROUTES project, consortium ICARUS (International Center for Archival Research), the State Archives in Šibenik, DARIAH-HR and other partners. The conference took place in the premises of the “Juraj Šižgorić” City Library and the Civitas Sacra Interpretation Center.

The conference program took place in accordance with the defined program and included more than 60 lectures, 5 workshops, a round table and presentations of publications and working meetings of the participants. Over three working days, the conference was attended by more than 160 participants from fifteen countries (Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Great Britain, Germany) including distinguished experts and representatives of international expert bodies, organizations and projects (ICA, EURBICA, EUROPEANA, APEF, TMO, DARIAH, etc.).

On the first day of the program, Bogdan Trifunović presented to the conference audience E-ROUTES project through the  planned and currently undergoing activities, projects’ goals and expected results.

During the second day of the program, Jelena Glišović presented results of the undertaken survey and future steps regarding collection building activities of the E-ROUTES project.

The conference’s theme, exploration of cultural routes for modern travellers in lieu of preservation and promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity within the European cultural heritage was analysed and treated through various shown activities on digitization, networking and protection of written heritage within the framework of current GLAM projects and programs across Europe, including the programs of Creative Europe, Erasmus+, Intereg, IPA and numerous others, as well as international digital cultural heritage platforms and various cultural networks and initiatives.

The conference was an excellent platform for a discussion between researchers, practitioners, curators, librarians, archivists, and artists about new approaches in presenting European travel routes to the widest possible audience.

Numerous European projects and platforms (Europeana, APEF, TMO, BoostDigiCulture, C4Education, etc.) were also presented, as well as topics focused on the implementation of digital culture and tools in the work of heritage institutions and experts, creative interpretation of heritage and cultural tourism, as well as the activities of GLAM sector and educational communities related to digital storytelling and teaching, networking and multimedia presentation of heritage sources, digital cultural and heritage platforms, as well as current cultural and academic projects, networks and initiatives.

This conference was planned, advertised and monitored for months throughout Europe and all E-ROUTES partnering countries, through the websites of the co-organizers, professional conferences and meetings, and through social networks, so the information was distributed to thousands of people. All materials (poster, program, book of abstracts, photos, etc.) are available on the conference website(s): https://e-routes.eu/conference-2023/ and https://www.icarushrvatska.hr/icarus-croatiadays where the PPT presentations of the presentations will also be published.

In addition to the website of the conference and social networks, the program booklet and materials from the conference were also published in print and electronic media (including @arhivi magazine, APE blog, TMO and APEF Newsletter, ICARUS and DARIAH-Hr websites, etc.).

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