E.C.C.O.s Committee Member and Treasurer Elis Marçal, from the Associação Profissional de Conservadores Restauradores de Portugal (ARP) and Jermina Stanojev have been invited as Voices of Culture (VoC) representatives at the 4th Meeting of the Open Method Coordination on the subject “Skills, training and knowledge transfer for traditional and emerging Heritage professions” that was held in Lovaine (Belgium) the 5th-7th February 2018. The open method of coordination (OMC) in the European Union takes place in policy areas which fall primary within the competence of EU Member states, such as employment, social protection, education, youth and vocational training, and culture. The OMC may be described as a form of ‘soft’ law. It is a form of intergovernmental policy-making that does not result in binding EU legislative measures and it does not require EU countries to introduce or amend their laws. The Council has tasked the OMC group to map existing schemes and identify emerging skills and training needs in the tangible, intangible and digital cultural heritage field, and produce a Manual of good practices for cultural and education institutions. The topic of the group is “Capacity building for heritage professionals focus on the transmission of traditional skills and know-how and on emerging professions, including in the context of the digital shift. The participation of education experts will be encouraged” For more information, click here