Introduction

This chapter deals with the emergence of migrating heritage, the cooperation, networking and increasing convergence of memory institutions around cultural welfare, political narratives for Europe and emerging patterns in the changing landscape of cultural networks. The problems related to the definition and implications of European cultural identity and its semantic history have been widely discussed. The concept of migrating heritage also provides an interesting perspective from which to look at the history and politics of the EU-legitimising and ambivalent concepts of unity in diversity' and a common European heritage'. The idea of a common European culture is problematically interconnected with the concept of migrating heritage in Europe and beyond. There are a number of network theories in social sciences, anthropology and media studies. The use of digital technologies in the service of cultural heritage has been rapidly growing since the early 1990s in parallel with the increase of international scientific events in this area.