First NETCHER Forum on combating cultural heritage looting and trafficking

NETCHER is a transnational project, started in January 2019 with a duration of 24 months, aiming at reinforcing the fight against cultural heritage looting and trafficking, by bringing together relevant international actors (security and research communities, public and private institutions, art market specialists, policy makers) and intends to build a sustainable social online Platform. After the first year of activities, it is time to present the middle-term results of the project.

With this purpose, the NETCHER Forum n°1 will take place in Lyon (France), on 25th and 26th February 2020. The general objective is to present the achievements till now, discuss them with the involved stakeholders, and to identify new roads for implementation. Furthermore, a first set of recommendations will be delivered to the practitioners and policy makers.

The goal of Day 1 is to present the results achieved during the first project year, with a special focus on recommendations to professional communities. Six keynote sessions will be held, according to the main NETCHER topics: 1) Traffic Channels & Actors, 2) Preservation & Reconstruction, 3) Provenance & Traceability 4) Return & Restitution, 5) Education & Awareness, and 6) Legal & Operational Interventions. A first roundtable will then gather a large panel of European experts and policy makers, to discuss scientific and practical aspects arising from the results and pave the ways to further works in terms of legal, research and technology needs.

Day 2 will be devoted to set up a list of further requirement and an agenda for implementation. It will be organized around a collective working session with participants and a roundtable focusing on policy makers’ perspective: in which ways recommendations can be concretely applied? What legal, institutional and technical tools should be used to put them into action? What are barriers, catalysers and enablers for improvement? Following the discussion, a common roadmap will be shared and agreed.

The NETCHER Forum n°1 gives space for interactions with the audience: researchers, museum curators, law enforcement agencies officers, students, art market specialists... come and contribute! Following the event, a special Report will be published on the NETCHER Website.

• Registration and programme.