The principles for change in Europeana governance

We firmly believe that we are only as strong as the members that make up the Europeana Network. Together we have been able to achieve a terrific amount over the past five years. We want to build on those achievements by enabling a stronger and more representative network.

You will hear more about our visions for the future next week, when we launch our Strategy 2020. Today, we want to tell you about our ambition to firmly integrate members of the network into the structure that governs Europeana, which will ultimately deliver the Strategy 2020. To do this, we need to explain what we want to achieve and what we think we need to change.

We are immensely proud of the diversity of the members of our network, from cultural heritage institutions through to technology partners and the creative industries. We believe that our network will be stronger if we welcome those who share our beliefs and our values. We want to grow our network; valuing our current members and welcoming new partners who can enrich our network with new disciplines, knowledge and opportunities.

With an increase in the diversity of the network members, comes a need to ensure that diversity is recognised and clearly represented. But our ambition goes further than this, to the core of our vision. We want every member to have an equal voice within the network and at every level through to the governing board. We want to do this by greatly expanding the role and number of Network Officers.

We believe that we have established a need for change and identified how we need to respond. We have developed a proposal that we think will help us achieve greater levels of democracy through wider participation and representation. Before we share that with you, and seek agreement on the principles, we would like to share our vision for the future.

We will send further details to network members on 4 July 2014. In the meantime, if you have any questions please email me at Julia.Fallon@europeana.eu