Challenges faced
Each year, the Council of Ministers of the European Union formally designates European Capitals of Culture, with over 60 cities having received the title to date. The GO! 2025 Institute has been established to implement activities related to the European Capital of Culture initiative. The activities and records it generates are of significant regional, national, and international importance. However, due to the short duration of the project, both the GO! 2025 Institute and the public archival service provider, the Provincial Archives of Nova Gorica, have limited time to ensure proper archiving. This includes overseeing records management, appraising documents, and preserving materials created within the project. One of the key challenges was that the employees involved in the project had no prior experience in archival record preservation, legal obligations, or collaboration with public archival service providers. Furthermore, given the intensity of the project activities and their short timeframe, employees did not have the opportunity to undergo additional training in archival record protection. At the outset of the project, they were also unaware of the volume and types of records that would be generated. The key issues were how to obtain information that is important for appraisal of records and how to improve the records management practice during records creation to achieve the goal of long-term accessibility.
Innovative solutions
The Provincial Archives of Nova Gorica, in collaboration with the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia (ARS) and with the support of the EC eArchiving Initiative, have developed an approach for developing and implementing services based on the Archiving by Design (AbD) Scan concept and guidelines. This could serve as a model for future European Capitals of Culture. The eArchiving Reference Architecture was used to illustrate the methodology to both archives and data creators, particularly through AbD-related Views. The implementation of the AbD Scan method involved a dedicated AbD Scan coordinator at GO! 2025, archivists, the director of the Provincial Archives of Nova Gorica, an archivist from the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia, and advisors from the EC eArchiving Initiative. Short interviews were conducted with key GO! 2025 employees and their information service provider to gather operational insights. Based on this information, the Provincial Archives of Nova Gorica prepared recommendations and implementation guidelines to ensure that information remains findable, accessible, readable, interpretable, reliable, and future-proof.
Benefits achieved
- Increased awareness of records management and archival preservation: As a newly established institute focused primarily on implementing activities, GO! 2025 recognised the need to organise its records management. The AbD Scan method played a crucial role in this process.
- Long-term accessibility and inclusivity: The European Capital of Culture initiative highlights topics that have shaped the regions on both sides of the national border between Italy and Slovenia. These have broader international relevance, such as war and peace, cultural transitions across borders (from smuggling of cultural treasures to modern refugee movements), and sustainability. By implementing recommendations and measures, information accessibility has been improved, not just for citizens of one country but for both. The AbD approach ensured that appropriate measures were taken to guarantee that this information remains sustainably accessible.
- Institutional empowerment and interdisciplinary collaboration: The collaboration between regional and national public archives and GO! 2025 has supported the digital transformation of cultural institutions. It serves as a model for effective records management planning, ensuring the preservation of archival records - and, by extension, cultural heritage - through the active engagement of diverse professionals from the outset.
- Knowledge sharing and harmonisation of activities at the European level: The preservation of cultural heritage from the European Capital of Culture 2025, Nova Gorica – Gorizia, contributes to the broader European cultural landscape. Since the title is shared between two cities in different countries, the initiative promotes international collaboration and knowledge sharing to ensure the proper preservation of records. This approach provides both a practical and professional solution for other short-term project organisations.
A model for success
The GO! 2025 approach, which focuses on developing and implementing services based on the Archiving by Design concept and guidelines, could serve as a model for future European Capitals of Culture. While implementation may vary across European countries, planning for long-term preservation and accessibility from the outset can set a valuable precedent for future projects of similar scope.