Archaeology 2025
Archaeology 2025 is an initiative of the Royal Irish Academy, driven by the Academy’s Standing Committee for Archaeology. The Discovery Programme supported the role of the Archaeology 2025 coordinator Mary Teehan.
It is a long-term strategy based on the key strength of an inclusive approach, with inputs from a broad range of interested parties: those within the archaeological profession as well as external stakeholders.
Archaeology 2025 aims to develop a sustainable strategy for the future. The archaeological sector, as an element of cultural heritage, has the potential through research on Ireland’s past to contribute to policy areas such as tourism, climate change, social inclusion, demographic change, health and well-being. There are opportunities through participation and training in archaeology and cultural heritage to develop transferable skills across a broad section of society and to foster a wider appreciation of the social value of archaeology. It is intended that Archaeology 2025 will be used as:
- an advocacy document to inform decision-making processes regarding archaeology and cultural heritage
- a key reference point for policy-making
- a consensus-based framework to guide stakeholders into the next decade
- a key statement from the archaeological profession through the RIA, in advance of, and to inform, the emerging National Heritage Plan and as a key contribution to the Culture 2025 national cultural policy (2016) and to the Creative Ireland initiative (2017–22).
Read the report in full or the summary report on the Royal Irish Academy’s website.
