EAA Strategic Planning 2025–2028

Our Strategic Plan for the upcoming period from 2025 to 2028 builds on the significant developments that the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) has experienced over the past few years. We take pride in our strong membership growth and current solid financial state, especially after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has fortunately receded. Our recent Annual Meeting (AM) in Rome, celebrating the 30-year legacy of the EAA, saw participation from around 5,000 Members, reaffirming our vibrant community and the need for personal encounters.

However, we must also confront new challenges as increasing regional martial conflicts threaten our efforts to protect archaeological and cultural heritage across Europe and beyond.

Our Strategic Plan is grounded in data and numbers that reflect the current health of our organisation. In light of our growing membership, we are committed to sustainability of our AMs both in structural and environmental terms, incorporating a range of practices elaborated at our Prague Secretariat.

Our ongoing objectives include assessing our AM venues and announcing host cities for the next four years: Belgrade in 2025, Athens in 2026, Leiden in 2027, and Vienna in 2028. We are also focused on preparing agreements with additional venues, ensuring we prioritise the needs of our community.  We continue to keep under review the effectiveness and quality of our AMs, including the hybrid format for which Members have expressed a slight preference. However, we must bear in mind that the hybrid format is also key to our risk management should we need to turn to an online-only format due to unforeseen circumstances.

Given our current solid financial footing and expanding membership, we have been excited to launch new initiatives while building upon our previous achievements. Further to our strategic vision of prioritising sustainability at our AMs, we have been enhancing our safe space policy and leveraging the expertise of our advisory committees, which are increasingly vital to our operations. Partly in response to escalating crises and conflicts, we are forging new external partnerships. We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) and the International Association for Archaeological Research in Western & Central Asia (ARWA). These agreements facilitate joint lectures, workshops, and exchanges to support early-career Members. Additionally, we have partnered with the International Society for Biomolecular Archaeology (ISBA) to encourage mutual attendance at each organisation's events. We are working on establishing further cooperation with similar goals and content.

As EAA President, I acknowledge significant responsibility in shaping the future landscape of archaeological knowledge and practice. This commitment also calls us to advocate for peace and cooperation. While it may seem that our efforts are small and have little effect, I firmly believe that even minor steps towards promoting humanitarian values and sharing knowledge about past conflicts can resonate widely and have an impact on current debates. This awareness can reach those who have listened beyond the voices of power and aggression, and I am confident that the combined strength of intellect and compassion will guide us on the right path forward.

Eszter Bánffy