Towards Mondiacult: European projects to fight illicit trafficking of cultural goods | September 25

Together with our 2 sisters projects, AURORA and ENIGMA, ANCHISE is hosting online an official "Towards Mondiacult" event in the framework of Mondiacult 2025. On September 25 (4.00 - 5.30 PM CET), we will bring together expertise and insights from this 3 EU-funded projects that are actively shaping the fight against looting and trafficking of cultural goods in Europe.

MONDIACULT is the world’s biggest cultural policy conference. The 2025 edition brings together thousands of participants to set the global agenda for culture in the years ahead. As a major advocacy platform, the 2025 UNESCO Conference is a decisive moment to build a consensus and momentum around crucial topics for the support and protection of culture and cultural heritage.

For this reason, ANCHISE, AURORA and ENIGMA, 3 HORIZON Europe projects, are uniting efforts to advocate for the use of technological and interdisciplinary solutions to the problem of illicit trafficking and looting of cultural goods.

"Showcasing European innovations projects to combat illicit trafficking of cultural goods"

🗓️ September 25, 2025

⏰ 4.00 - 5.30 PM CET

📍Online - Registration required

🔈 English

Watch the recording:

Main objectives:

• Highlight the pivotal role of these transnational and interdisciplinary initiatives in the fight against trafficking of cultural goods, showcasing their innovative methodologies

• Present how the ANCHISE, AURORA, and ENIGMA tools detect, identify, trace, and prevent trafficking of cultural goods, offering scalable solutions for global application

• Propose evidence-based policy recommendations for global governance, integrating the EU's approach with specific needs of stakeholders and communities.

The event addresses the urgent need for innovative, research and data-driven, and collaborative approaches to safeguard cultural heritage against trafficking, a critical issue that threatens cultural identities, historical continuity, and economic sustainability.

Programme (constantly updated):

• Introduction by Dr. Rodrigo Martín Galán, Research Executive Agency Established by the European Commission

Dr. Galán will highlight the alignment of this side event with the broader objectives of MONDIACULT 2025 and how the fight against illicit trafficking is an issue that requires an answer at European and global level.

• Presentation of the results of the projects by the 3 project coordinators

This segment is crucial for providing the audience with a clear understanding of each project's unique methodologies and the collective impact of their interdisciplinary approaches.

• Roundtable discussion with target communities representatives, moderated by Axel Kerep (PARCS Solutions)

Dr. Valentina Vassallo (The Cyprus Institute), Azra Bečević Šarenkapa (National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina / Balkan Museum Network), Giorgos Triantafyllou (KEMEA Research).

The roundtable will be mainly aimed at confronting experts from target communities with the tools that are proposed and highlighting how they could be helpful in their work for the fight against illicit trafficking.

• Why we need museums in fight?, concluding speech by Hélène Ventimiglia, ICOM Secretariat

Ms. Ventimiglia highlights the importance of combining the technological development with the human expertise. Museum professionals are repositories for memory for their communities and play an active role in the preservation of cultural heritage: for this reason they are at the forefront of the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural goods.