MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP CultHerit IN CLUJ
In June, the first meeting of the Steering Committee (SCOM) took place in Cluj, where the representatives of the 8 partners from the #CHIM cultural sector met and agreed on the key elements of the project.
One of the main objectives of the meeting was the official establishment of the project's Steering Committee.
The representative of the Lead Partner (LMP) presented the main features of the operation and organization of the Steering Committee (SCOM) and each partner nominated a member in the SCOM on behalf of the respective organization.
After that, the partners focused on the experiences accumulated so far in the functioning of stakeholder groups (key stakeholders' group – KSG) and all partners shortly introduced KSG in their country.
Adrian Lupaş and Mihai Bucurean, as representatives of AJOFM Bihor, provided an overview of the activity 1.2 Transnational analysis of employment practices which includes an overview of achievements, a presentation of the most important challenges and a preliminary outline of the results.
Thomas Philipp, KUPF representative, presented an Introduction to Activity 1.3. The transnational aspirational employment model. Thomas presented the main tasks related to the definition of the employment model, the presentation being followed by a session with a workshop format, a workshop in which all partners actively participated.
On the second day of the project meeting, the partners were asked to focus on the preparation of the first progress reports and together they discussed the project management focusing on the deliverables and planned results and discussed the next tasks related to the implementation of the activities.
After that, Marija Jurkić Flis, MUO representative and coordinator of communication activities, presented the latest developments related to communication, the project web page and why social media engagement matters. She also shared some tips and ideas with partners about social media presence, which will also be important for the future success of the project.
The meeting ended with conclusions and the partners agreed that the next meeting will be held in Belgrade in October.
This project is supported by the Interreg Danube Region Program, co-financed by the European Union
Photo credit: IMM, Zoltàn Szalontai
Project partners:
Iparművészeti Múzeum MAK – Museum of Applied Arts KUPF OÖ
AJOFM Bihor Republički zavod za zaštiti spomenica kulture Beograd
Međuopštni zavod za zaštiti spomenica kulture Subotica Uměleckoprůmyslové museum in Praze Републички завод за заштиту cultural-historical and natural nasљеђа
Raziskovalno Isobraževalno Središče Dvorec Rakičan
National Heritage Institute The National History Museum of Transylvania
Trade Union of Employees in Cultural Institutions, Belgrade, Serbia



CultHeRit – Identifying solutions for labor market disparities in the cultural heritage sector in the Danube region by improving accessibility for young professionals

The disparities on the labor market in the heritage sector are due to several causes. The attractiveness of a career in the cultural heritage sector has declined in recent decades, the main causes being low pay and a lack of innovative employment practices to counterbalance the modest financial reward. Also, the young graduates of some specialized universities are not prepared in accordance with the offer on the labor market, potential employers being thus forced to apply practices that reflect the special legal status of employees and the type of work in the cultural heritage sector.
Thus, the National History Museum of Transylvania is involved in the project CultHeRit – Identifying solutions for labor market disparities in the cultural heritage sector in the Danube region by improving accessibility for young professionals, within a partnership between 13 institutions and organizations from 8 countries, coordinated by the Hungarian Museum of Applied Arts [IMM] – project leader and the following partners: the Museum of Applied Arts [MAK] and the Cultural Platform of Upper Austria [KUPF ] – Austria; The National Heritage Institute [INP], the National Museum of Transylvanian History [MNIT] and the Bihor County Employment Agency [AJOFMBH] – Romania; Republican Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments [RIPCM], Subotica Intermunicipal Institute for the Protection of Historical Monuments [IPCMS] and the Trade Union of Employees in Cultural Institutions [SKS] – Serbia; Museum of Decorative Arts [UPM] – Czech Republic; Institute for the Protection of Cultural-Historical and Natural Heritage [IPC] – Bosnia and Herzegovina; Museum of Arts and Crafts [MUO] – Croatia; Research and Education Center "Mansion Rakičan" [RIS] – Slovenia. During 30 months (01.01.2024 – 30.06.2026), the partners aim to optimize the labor market by inducing positive changes in the employment practices currently applied in the cultural heritage sector. This will be achieved by defining and applying a model of employment in the cultural heritage institutions of the participating countries in the Danube region. By increasing access to the cultural heritage sector for young professionals, the CultHeRit project will contribute to slowing down and reversing the migration of young people with higher education and retaining skilled labor in the targeted institutions, while increasing the diversification of the sectoral workforce.
The objective of the project will be fulfilled through a series of specific activities:
- Carrying out the transnational analysis of employment practices in institutes and museums in the cultural heritage sector in the Danube region;
- Defining the general employment model for young professionals at the partnership level;
- Application of the model by hiring a young professional for 1 year in 10 institutions part of the project consortium;
- Evaluation and improvement of the applied model from three perspectives: of the young professional, the employer and external experts;
- Optimizing the general model of employment of young professionals to be used later at the regional level;
- Elaboration of the Transnational Study on access to jobs and the employment situation in institutes and museums in the cultural heritage sector;
- Elaboration of the Transnational Strategy regarding the improvement of access to jobs and the employment situation in institutes and museums in the cultural heritage sector;
- Running a visibility and advocacy campaign.
Among the topics addressed in the working group meetings will be: legal status and employment conditions, gender equality, access to jobs for people with disabilities and disadvantaged groups, the feasibility of solutions identified at the partnership level in a national context, etc. The members of the working group will contribute to the definition of a general and desirable employment model, to the development of recommendations during the testing of the employment model, to its adaptation and modification in order to make a real contribution to the improvement of the employment situation in the heritage sector, as and developing analyzes and collecting data.
The first stage of the project is dedicated to the elaboration the transnational analysis of employment practices by providing and collecting data based on the methodology developed within the consortium, which will aim to analyze the current conditions and dynamics of the labor market in the heritage sector. MNIT, in collaboration with the National Heritage Institute, will collect data on local employment practices to analyze relevant university programs as well as student expectations regarding employment in the cultural heritage sector.
Along with all other partners, our museum will identify desirable and at the same time viable solutions on a large scale for the recruitment, employment and retention of young professionals in the sector, thus contributing to the definition of a general model of their employment, applicable at the level of all the countries involved in the project.
After adapting to national regulations, the partners will test the applicability of the model by employment for 1 year of a recent graduate in one of the areas with a shortage of personnel, who will work under the guidance of a mentor.
Through the experience of this stage, MNIT will contribute to finalizing the employment modele and will transfer elements of it to the internal practices in the field of human resources.
Ultimately, the CultHeRit project strives to ensure that the cultural heritage sector becomes and remains an attractive workplace, offering careers aimed at the professional development of young employees, and aims to contribute to the retention of the skilled workforce by increasing at the same time occupational and age diversity in the sector.
Project CultHeRit – Identifying solutions for labor market disparities in the cultural heritage sector in the Danube region by improving accessibility for young professionals is part of the Danube Transnational Cooperation Program, a financing instrument of Interreg that aims to improve the application of regional development policies and programs in the Danube area. The project will be implemented between January 2024 and June 2026 and has a total budget of €2.043.590, of which €1.634.872 is non-refundable funding.

LIMES
The LIMES National Program, established in 2014 by order of the Minister of Culture, is part of an international effort to register archaeological sites along the route of the old border of the Roman Empire (known as "limes") in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
9 countries are involved in the fulfillment of this wish, Romania playing an essential role as the longest sector of the Romanian limes is located on the territory of the country (over 1000 km). The three institutions directly involved in the field research and documentation necessary for the entire project are the National Museum of Transylvanian History (MNIT) in Cluj-Napoca, the National Museum of Romanian History (MNIR) in Bucharest and the National Museum of the Eastern Carpathians (MNCR) in St. George.
The activity carried out in 2017 consisted in the continuation of the identification of relevant older documents and the continuation of field research. Documents such as the excavation reports of the archaeologist Dumitru Protase found in the MNIT archive, were scanned to be added to the file for the inclusion of sites belonging to the Romanian border located on the current territory of Romania.
The archaeometric field research (non-invasive methods such as archaeological topography, geophysics, LIDAR and aerial photography) carried out during the past year contributed decisively to the delineation with greater precision of the western Roman border south of Bologa and up to the area of Văia Ierii and Văia Ariesăului. In the area of 400 km2 researched for the first time, 28 monuments of Roman origin were found, most of them in the territory of Cluj county, and some in the territory of Sălaj county. Likewise, similar researches took place in the South-East of Transylvania, in the area of the Râșnov-Cumidava, Hoghiz and Brețcu castles, but also in the area of the Roman borders of the South-East of Dacia and Dobrogea.
The program's activity has been appreciated by international partners since the beginning, thanks to the progress made by all parties involved in the research and documentation work, given the complexity of the researched sector of the Romanian border.
"We have identified more than 300 sites along the entire length of this border in Romania, candidates to enter the World Heritage List. Among these sites are legionary barracks, auxiliary barracks, towers and other military installations related to this border." – Dr. George Cupcea, Deputy Director of MNIT.
The activity of the three responsible institutions has been carried out without interruption during the last years, even if the budget allocations have been delayed, and most of the time they have been insufficient.

Website: www.limesromania.ro
- Published in project
ERASMUS +
The museum, as a muse of inspiration in adult education
MNIT is the beneficiary of an Erasmus+ adult education project: The museum, as a muse of inspiration in adult education, KA122 – ADU – 628AD7BF (axis KA122 – ADU – Short-term projects for mobility of learners and staff in adult education). The project is financed by the European Commission through the National Agency for Community Programs in the Field of Education and Professional Training, within the Erasmus+ program KA1- Mobility for Adult Education, and will run for a period of 15 months, between 01/09/2022 și 30/11/2023, both dates inclusive.
Project team: Geanina Simion, Dana Popa, George Cupcea
Program The museum, as a muse of inspiration in adult education it aimed to strengthen social integration, to increase understanding of interculturality and a sense of commitment to the community. The project was prepared to improve the professional skills of the staff responsible for educational activities in the museum, to ensure the transmission of museum and cultural values to new generations, from the perspective of the museum as a learning environment in adult education.
Within the project, two mobility activities will be carried out:
Job shadowing at the Moesgaard museum in Aarhus, Denmark
Running period: May 1-4, 2023
Number of participants: 6 people.
Courses and training:
"eLearning - eInclusion - eCulture" (Mobile Learning, Gamification, Augmented Reality)
Course program description: The purpose of the professional development program is to train participants in distance learning techniques and methodologies through ICT, while promoting inclusion and diversity through cultural activities, to respond to current demands.
"eLearning – eInclusion – eCulture" refers to the pedagogical use of Mobile Location-Based Games and Augmented Reality as a means of skill cultivation. More specifically, students will get to know the interactive applications of augmented reality, with digital storytelling, combined with Land Art.
During the course, participants will visit historical and natural monuments in Crete.
Venue: Rethymno, Crete, Greece
Running period: June 18-23, 2023
Number of participants: 10 people
- Published in project
hysteria

www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/ister
The final publication of the project hysteria
Connecting the historical Roman routes in the Danube region
The ISTER project aims to revive a 2000-year-old heritage by putting Roman roads back on the map and developing an accessible pedestrian route in the footsteps of the Romans. The route aims to revitalize the local rural economy, connect communities with heritage and transform neglected areas into living focal points on an eco-cultural corridor along the Danube Region.
I. About the project
The ISTER project addresses the challenge of the discontinuity of Romanian heritage, which is reflected both in a territorial dimension related to a low level of investment and connection between heritage resources and local/regional productive sectors, and in the dimensions of visualization and attractiveness in terms of promoting and raising awareness of the importance of land resources.
The main objective of ISTER focuses on the rediscovery and revitalization of the ancient Roman road network along DR as a key driver in promoting territorial development based on the sustainable use of cultural and natural heritage (more precisely, Roman routes).
ISTER approaches the territorial dimensions of the Romanian routes as a continuous transnational element that crosses the borders of the DR states and provides a relevant scale for exchange and joint development.
II. objection
- Set up a multi-level stakeholder group
- Catalog of Roman routes and settlements along the RD
- Common branding strategy
- The territorial atlas of Romanian routes in the Danube region based on GIS
- Transnational Interactive Tool (ISTER App)
- Pilot actions
- Policy Manual
- Maintenance memorandum
For more see:
- Published in project
THE KITE
Gods and Mortals of Ancient Egypt
Project financed from the EEA Grants 2014-2021, through the RO-CULTURE Program
Contract no. RO-CULTURE-A1-2/2020/31.01.2020
Project period: February 2020 – June 2022
Contract value: 615.547,61 LEI (128.719,10 EURO)
Team:
Management: Felix Marcu, George Cupcea, Victoria Barabas
Implementation: Eugenia Beu-Dachin, Irina Nemeti, Diana Bindea, Ioana Cova, Sabin Grapini, Monica Bodea, Sanda Man.
The general objective: the promotion of the Egyptian collection by creating an innovative exhibition, with preserved and restored objects
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Transylvanian Museum in Cluj was the beneficiary of donations that contributed to the creation of a valuable Egyptian collection. Later, they came under the management of the National History Museum of Transylvania.
The Egyptian collection consists mainly of votive and funerary objects, the most important piece being a human mummy placed in a painted wooden sarcophagus from Gamhud (Egypt). The collection also includes some mummified organs or parts of the human body (hand, phalluses, lung), but also some animal mummies – falcons, birds, crocodiles; ushebti statuettes, made of glazed earthenware or painted wood, also belong to the category of funerary pieces. The gallery of votive objects is completed by statuettes of divinities such as Isis, Osiris, Harpokrates.
The ZMEA project is an interdisciplinary one and has several specific objectives, among which: the preservation and restoration of the Egyptian collection, as well as its enhancement by creating a modern exhibition, integrated both visually and informationally in the gallery of international exhibitions dedicated to this theme ; the improvement of museographers, restorers, conservators by collaborating with specialists from the Museum of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Fine Arts in Budapest; the use of modern investigative methods (special photos with UV and infrared filters, CT and X-rays of the mummies, 3D scans of some parts); making a documentary film, but also a specialized catalog.
The collaboration with institutions such as the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca for medical imaging investigations, but also with the Technical University for 3D scans of some pieces from the collection led to an increase in knowledge about the artefacts and facilitated their interpretation, but also the appreciation internal degradations.
The specialty catalog and informative materials in the form of printable stickers on the walls, the documentary film, but also recordings of CT and X-ray investigations, of 3D scans will complete the showcase show.




- Published in project
PHARMATRANS
Exploratory research project
All Things Apothecary in 16th-20th-century Transylvania. The History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca. Pharmacies of the XVI-XX centuries in Transylvania. The Pharmacy History Collection from Cluj-Napoca
code PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-1562
Financed from the state budget, through UEFISCDI
Total amount of the contract: 1.192.842 lei
Running: 2021-2023
project director Dr. Gruia Ana-Maria
team: Dr. Maria Pakucs-Willcocks, Dr. Ioana Gruiță, Dr. Ioana Cova, Dr. Alexandru Rădulescu
collaborators: Dr. Márta Guttmann, Dr. Kovács Zsolt, Dr. Magó Andrea Beatrix, Cornelia Rotariu, Radu Cordoș, Tudor Tomescu
The general goal of the project is to create the first exhaustive catalog of the Pharmacy History Collection from Cluj-Napoca and distribute it to a wide range of specialists and the general public, internationally. The team is considering a catalog in six volumes, in English, published by an accredited publishing house in Romania. The catalog will also be available online, in pdf format, on the project website (in progress).
The project also aims at a number of intermediate/secondary objectives:
O1. Visiting representative European museums of the history of pharmacy to allow team members comparative documentation of current conservation, restoration and display strategies for such heritage assets, acquisition of other relevant collection catalogs and bibliographic works, and networking by specialists in the field.
O2. Cleaning, consolidation and restoration of artefacts in the collection that require such specialized interventions (approx. 500 heritage goods of various types).
O3. Obtaining new knowledge related to the artefacts in the collection, through the latest methods: microscopic investigations, micro-photographs and specialized chemical analyzes of samples of materia medica kept in some of the old containers.
O4. Transcription, translation and analysis of all the manuscripts in the collection, most of them unique.
O5. Research and presentation of the most important new discoveries regarding the history of Transylvanian pharmacy from the 3th century obtained on the basis of the research of the collection at international conferences and through at least XNUMX articles in prestigious journals (ISI/ErihPlus).
O6. Promotion of the project, its activities and results, through: an own website (Romanian-English), posts on social networks, book launch in 2023.
For more information, we invite you to the project page see the project website:
- Published in project
MNIT Share
MNIT Share is a project that aims to promote two of the most valuable Romanian collections from the MNIT heritage, relevant to the history of Transylvania: the "Ion Mușlea" Transylvanian glass icon collection and the "Alexandru Lapedatu" personal documentary fund. Both collections belonged to leading personalities of Romanian culture, pioneers of systematic scientific research, school founders, with a major role in preserving and promoting the national cultural heritage. Active mainly in the interwar period, they contributed decisively to the standardization and institutional reformation on a scientific basis of Romanian research in the field of heritage.
Project team: Ioana Gruiţă, Ioana Cova, Andrea Demjen, Márta Guttmann, Diana Varga
The project was co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund and is carried out in partnership with the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca, the Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, the Satu Mare County Museum and the Romanian Association of Conservators and Restorers.
"The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding.”
- Published in project