Call for Papers for the ERIH Annual Conference 2026 „Industrial Heritage and Migration”, Athens (GR), October 28–30, 2026
Industrialisation and migration are deeply intertwined phenomena that have shaped Europe over the past two centuries. Industrial heritage throughout Europe is not only linked by technologies and economic processes, but also by the movement of people across regions and borders. Migration is not a peripheral aspect, but a central element of Europe’s shared industrial heritage.
We invite practitioners and experts – site operators, museum and education professionals, civil-society initiatives, tourism and marketing experts and researchers – to submit proposals for presentations on this year’s conference theme. We are particularly interested in best practice examples, case studies and practical approaches that show how industrial heritage sites engage with migration. Proposals for interactive workshop formats are also welcome.
We look forward to receiving your paper submissions or workshop proposals by 1 June 2026.
Please feel free to forward this call to interested parties in your networks. ERIH will cover travel and conference expenses for invited speakers.
Invitation / Extensive Version
Industrialisation and migration are deeply intertwined phenomena that have shaped Europe over the past two centuries. Industrial heritage throughout Europe is not only linked by technologies and economic processes, but also by the movement of people across regions and borders. Migration is not a peripheral aspect, but a central element of Europe’s shared industrial heritage.
From the large-scale labour migration in the period of high industrialisation, with millions of people moving from Eastern to Western and Central Europe, or from rural areas to new industrial cities up to the post-war migration flows from Southern to Northern Europe, industrial regions have long been shaped by human mobility. More recent migration movements, often with origins beyond Europe, continue to transform industrial urban areas, frequently involving complex patterns of intra-European secondary migration.
These movements were largely driven by the demand for labour. Yet migration encompasses far more: it involves people bringing with them cultural practices, traditions and intangible heritage; it enables processes of knowledge transfer in multiple directions; and it includes experiences of integration and exclusion, of opportunity and discrimination. Through migration, European societies have been reshaped in profound ways – socially, culturally and politically.
Across the ERIH network, many sites have been shaped by migration in one way or another and are connected to each other through these shared histories across borders. If this is part of our history, we must also tell it as part of our story – and tell it in ways that speak to visitors (migrant or not!), move them and help them connect industrial heritage with their own biographies and family histories. Still and often enough this is not adequately reflected in our narratives. Interpretation often focuses primarily on “native” workforces, while the contributions and experiences of migrant workers remain underrepresented. This has to do not only with limited historical perspectives, but also with our institutions themselves, with teams and curatorial practices. Also, local history initiatives have often remained too homogeneous and have too rarely included migrant voices.
As a result, a significant part of the population is (or feels) insufficiently or inappropriately addressed and attracted by our programs. Audiences with migration backgrounds remain underrepresented – partly because they do not see themselves reflected, or industrial history is not presented as part of their history, or not in ways that make its links to their own experience visible. This creates a selfreinforcing dynamic: limited representation leads to limited engagement, and vice versa.
For ERIH and its members, this is a fundamental challenge. Industrial heritage has always claimed to be a participatory and inclusive cultural practice – one that tells the stories of those who shaped industrial societies, particularly those whose contributions have historically been undervalued. In many industrial regions, people with migration backgrounds constitute a quarter or more of the population. Reaching them is not only a matter of representation, but also of the future of our sites: of attracting new visitors, new communities, new staff and advocates for industrial heritage.
Numerous sites across Europe have already begun to engage with these challenges. They are revising exhibitions, developing new formats, and experimenting with participatory approaches to include migrant perspectives and audiences. The ERIH Annual Conference 2026 in Athens aims to provide a platform for exchanging these experiences.
Invitation for presentations and workshops
We invite practitioners and experts – site operators, museum and education professionals, civilsociety initiatives, tourism and marketing experts and researchers – to submit proposals for presentations on this year’s conference theme. We are particularly interested in best practice examples, case studies and practical approaches that show how industrial heritage sites engage with migration. Proposals for interactive workshop formats are also welcome.
Guiding questions: We are looking for contributions that show in particular
• how migrant perspectives are integrated into storytelling through new approaches, formats, programs or exhibitions,
• how audiences with migration backgrounds are addressed and engaged, how their interest can be sparked,
• how participatory and co-creative approaches are implemented in practice, what it needs for them to be successful,
• how collections of objects, documents and testimonies relating to migrants or refugees are built, handled, interpreted and activated,
• how know-how transfer resulting from migration and population exchange – technical, social or cultural – can be highlighted and interpreted,
• and what insights your example offers for other sites across Europe.
Speakers are encouraged to illustrate their examples using appropriate documentation (e.g. images, audio or video material) in order to make their approaches tangible for the conference participants.
Workshop formats are to be discussed and fixed individually.
Please address at least two of the following topics:
• Narration: Which stories, perspectives or biographies did you highlight – and how? How did you succeed in creating stories that resonated with visitors and attracted (not only) migrant audiences? How did you make artefacts, documents or testimonies speak?
• Audience development: Which formats or programs proved effective? How did you involve people with migration backgrounds in developing exhibitions and programs? Did the communities themselves took the initiative and propose their formats? What helped to reduce barriers, establish partnerships on equal terms and create identification?
• Institutional change: What changes within your organization were necessary – not only in programs, but also in the internal organisation and structures (e.g. staff diversity, partnerships, new competencies, structural barriers or power relations)?
• European links: How did your migration histories connect to European contexts or other sites? How could you create connections between local industrial history and the regions of origin of people who have no immediate relationship to that local past?
We encourage you to focus especially on
• Lessons learned: What worked well – and what did not? What would you do differently? How can successful projects be anchored more sustainably in the long term?
• Challenges: What obstacles did you encounter (e.g. lack of trust, access, resources, conflicting narratives, language barriers or institutional obstacles)? How did you deal with them?
Submission & selection
• Abstract (EN), max. 2,000 characters, by June 1st 2026 to conference@erih.net
• Please attach a brief CV and note relevant experience
The ERIH Board will notify presenters of its decision by end of July.
Practical information for speakers
• Presentation due: 8th October 2026 (PowerPoint 16:9)
• Speaking time: max. 20 min; Workshop formats possible up to 90 min.
• Conference language: English
• Presentations will be published on erih.net after the event (please clear image rights).
Costs covered
• Costs are taken over for one person
• Travel and accommodation (up to 2 nights, hotel booked by ERIH, travel in line with EU rules)
• Conference fee waived – full access to the entire programme
Contact
ERIH – European Route of Industrial Heritage e.V.
Christiane Baum, Secretary General
conference@erih.net
+49 2150 756496 | +49 171 6437345
Einladung online Call for Papers: „Industriekultur und Migration“ – ERIH-Konferenz, Athen 2026
