The Collaborative European Cloud for Cultural Heritage and ECHOES
The Collaborative European Cloud for Cultural Heritage is an ambitious initiative funded by the European Commission's Horizon Europe programme to develop a digital infrastructure aimed at heritage professionals, scientists and researchers. It will provide access to advanced digitisation tools and services for conservation and preservation.
The development of the Collaborative European Cloud for Cultural Heritage is led by the European Cloud for Heritage OpEn Science (ECHOES) project, which will establish the core infrastructure and governance model of the Cloud.
ECHOES is implemented by a consortium of 51 European partners, led by CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique), together with CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) and FSP (Fondation des Sciences du Patrimoine). We are delighted that Europeana Foundation, the Europeana Network Association and various Europeana Aggregators’ Forum members are partners in the project, contributing to its holistic approach to digital transformation and ensuring collaboration and connection with the common European data space for cultural heritage.
ECHOES Cascading Grants
ECHOES recently announced the first call of the ECHOES Cascading Grants Programme, which will support cultural heritage institutions to contribute datasets for use within the Collaborative European Cloud for Cultural Heritage.
How much funding is available?
For this call, a maximum of twelve projects will receive up to €60,000 each.
Who should apply?
Any cultural heritage institution based in a country participating in Horizon Europe can apply independently or as the lead partner of a consortium. The call particularly encourages applications from smaller, medium-sized and under-resourced institutions, as well as interdisciplinary consortia. Europeana Foundation and the Europeana Aggregators’ Forum can help in supporting standardised and streamlined connections with the Cultural Heritage Cloud. If you are considering applying for the ECHOES Cascading Grant, please feel free to reach out to us via email (echoes-collaboration@europeana.eu) to see how we can support you and your project.
What should proposals contain?
Proposals should define the dataset’s intended user community, its purpose (for example, in research, education, virtual exhibitions), expected outcomes and broader benefits. They should contain a scenario of how the project would like to make use of the Collaborative European Cloud for Cultural Heritage, including a list of the possible steps needed to analyse and process the dataset. Finally, a detailed dataset description is required, covering content, technical specifications, ethical considerations, availability and licensing.
What are the key dates?
Portal open for submissions: April 2025
Stage 1 deadline for proposals: 15 May 2025 at 23:59 CEST
External evaluation of Stage 1 proposals: July 2025
Stage 2 deadline for full proposals: September 2025
Communication of results to applicants: Until mid-October 2025
Indicative project starting date: December 2025 / January 2026
How can I apply?
Full guidelines for the call can be found on the ECHOES website, and the submission platform through which you can apply will open in April 2025. To support prospective applicants, the ECHOES Team will also host a First Call Q&A Session online on Thursday, April 17 from 15:00-16:00 CEST. This session will share details about the application process, provide a short submission platform demo, and answer your questions on the call and submission. Find out more and register.
Find out more
To find out more about the Collaborative European Cloud for Cultural Heritage and the Cascading Grants visit the project website. To stay up to date with news about the call, including a planned information session, sign up for the ECHOES newsletter.
You can find out more about how the data space and the Cloud complement each other to foster a digital heritage environment that is more inclusive, unified and jointly owned in our news post.
