If not done so yet, please be kindly reminded to submit your papers for our upcoming Convention in Budapest (12-14 May 2025) now. Deadline for the submission ends on 30.03.2025!

Contributions to the Convention’s theme “Archives Reflecting 21st Century Challenges” are welcome to cover the following fields, aligning with the overall topic of the EU co-funded project “Sustainable Archives and Greener Approaches”:

Disaster risk management:

• Institutional and regulatory frameworks regarding climate change and emergency management.
• Main risks affecting Documentary Heritage, tailored to each country.
• Case studies of damage to collections caused by climate events or armed conflicts.

Archives greening:

• Eco-friendly archival practices.
• Sustainable digitization methods.
• Archives as resources for environmental research and advocacy.
• The adoption of greener approaches by archival institutions to enhance climate resilience and sustainability

Submissions (i.e. name, title of presentation, abstract) should be sent via this form.

In case you need additional encouragement to join us in Budapest in May, allow us to draw your attention to the exquisite location of the Convention: it will be held in the Museum and Library of Hungarian Agriculture, located in the historic, architectural jewel of the Vajdahunyad Castle situated in the City Park in the centre of Budapest:

To get an inspiration of the interior of the museum, be warmly invited to take the virtual tour here.

Looking forward to your contributions and your participation in our 34th Convention!

Under the lead of the Department for the History of Architecture and Building Archaeology of the University of Technology Vienna, and in close cooperation with ICOMOS, ISPRS, CHNT ICOMOS Austria, and supported by Time Machine Organisation within the frame of the currently running Digital Europe project “3DBigDataSpace“, young scholars, emerging professionals and all who wish to broaden their horizons are invited to participate in this week-long, hands-on experience.

Topic of this year's Summer School is the digitisation of built heritage at risk. Heiligenkreuz Castle has already been extensively documented, providing an exceptional opportunity to compare and analyse multiple data sets. Participants will learn how to use these datasets to assess deterioration, structural vulnerabilities, and potential conservation strategies.

Allow us to forward you the kind invitation of our member, the National Archives of Norway, to attend the Nordic Archives Days 2025, taking place in Oslo from 15 -17 September 2025.

The conference is organised every third year as a joint initiative by the national archives of the Nordic countries. This year's issue is already the 27th occurrence!!

Under the overarching theme “The Archives’ Role in Society”, the conference will deal with three subtopics:

• New Technological Possibilities
• Secure Archives in Uncertain Times
• The Potential of Archives

The programme is composed of plenary sessions and four parallel tracks – participation is encouraged on site, but you can also join online (conference language is English!).

Registration is open now, with early bird booking available until 2 May 2025.

Note: on Monday, 15 September, the organisers welcome you to a reception at the Nobel Peace Center from 18:00 to 21:00. Remember to sign up for the reception when you register for the conference.

We are thrilled to announce the accession of the National Archives of Latvia as a member of ICARUS! Welcome!!

The National Archives of Latvia (NAL) was established in 2011 and operates under the Ministry of Culture. It is formed of functional and territorial structural units, including:

• The Latvian State Historical Archives: contains more than six million documentary evidence of historical events, political processes, economic, social and cultural life in the territory of Latvia in the period from 1220 to 1945. It is the oldest of the Latvian archives and contains the oldest documents - a collection of parchments, materials for audits of manors and souls, church documents, etc. The latest documents stored in the State Historical Archive of Latvia cover the period of independence of the Republic of Latvia (1918-1940), as well as the period of German occupation (1941-1945).
• The Latvian State Archives (LVA): keeps documents of Latvian social democracy and communist organizations, starting from 1899, documents of the Latvian SSR State Security Committee on repressed persons, documents of the Latvian SSR 1940-1941, post-war period, documents of companies, as well as local government institutions.
  After the restoration of Latvia's independence, the LVA accumulates and stores documents of the highest public administration institutions of the Republic of Latvia, Riga and Jurmala city local government institutions, as well as documents and collections of public organizations, associations, individuals. The State Archives of Latvia also has a wide range of documents of Latvian organizations in exile.
• The Latvian State Archive of Audiovisual Documents: ensures the accumulation, accounting, preservation and use of audiovisual, photo, sound and electronic documents to be included in the national documentary heritage.
• The State Archives of Personnel Documents: ensures the accumulation, availability and use of personnel documents of reorganized and liquidated state and municipal institutions, private legal entities in Riga and Jurmala for the period from 1944 to the present.
• and 11 regional archives.

The NAL has a vast compilation of digitised records, archival descriptions, register books as well as audiovisual, photographic and audio material available online in various databases, also closely cooperating with other European and international organisations and initiatives.

In addition to providing online access to its sources, the NAL regularly publishes scientific articles and papers. The latest publication being the 2nd issue of the magazine “Latvijas Arhīvi” (Archives of Latvia) including 6 source-based articles (in Latvian, with abstracts and summaries in English), a summary of the extensive activities celebrating the anniversary year of 2024 (105th anniversary of the Latvian State Historical Archives, 60th anniversary of the Regional State Archives, and the 30th anniversary of the State Archives of Personnel Documents) and a view beyond the borders, including an article by our ICARUS president Birgit Kibal on online services and the challenges and achievements of digitalization in Estonia and another contribution from Emese Kún, senior archivist at the Budapest City Archives, giving an overview of the thematic sites of the Budapest City Archives.