Introduction to the East-West Workshops on Industrial Archaeology

The East-West Workshop on Industrial Archaeology series is an initiative developed since 2021 by the Institute for Cultural Heritage and History of Science & Technology in cooperation with the British Association for Industrial Archaeology together with its Young Members Board. The series aims to create a virtual space for sharing experiences in the archaeological study of the industrial past, but with plenty of flexibility in terms of chronological scopes, topics and disciplinary approaches. In doing so, the E-W Workshops bring together scholars and professionals from the West, the East and beyond with two objectives. First, to promote industrial archaeology in the East, where this field of studies is underdeveloped in spite of the fast growth of industrial heritage studies, protection and reutilisation. Second, to exchange ideas and practices, so together we can build a more diverse discipline that can explain better the complexity of industrialisation in its global and multi-temporal dimensions. The workshops are held twice a year (May and November).