Centre des monuments nationaux: a 2030 trajectory serving shared heritage

The Centre of monuments nationaux (CMN) manages nearly one hundred historic monuments across the country. Through CMN 2030 – Our Project
(https://www.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/cmn-news/cmn-2030-notre-projet), the institution structures its action around a clear ambition: to embed conservation, mediation, and accessibility within a coherent strategy looking ahead to 2030.

CMN 2030 organizes the CMN’s action around several axes:

• strengthening access to monuments for all audiences;

• developing cooperation with actors in the social, educational, and territorial fields;

• supporting innovation in mediation;

• integrating monuments into sustainable local dynamics;

• making actions more visible and assessable.

The project thus provides a shared framework for teams and partners to consider the opening of monuments as a fully integrated dimension of heritage policy.

Monuments solidaires: a national programme dedicated to supported audiences

Within this framework, the Monuments solidaires initiative, renewed from 23 to 29 March 2026
(https://www.monuments-nationaux.fr/groupes-et-relais-du-champ-social/monuments-solidaires), constitutes a key moment across the network.

During one week:

• groups from the social, medico-social, justice, and health sectors are welcomed free of charge;

• guided tours, artistic workshops, performances, and treasure hunts are offered;

• dedicated sessions are organized for professionals and volunteers (meetings, awareness sessions, relay forum).

The Forum des relais, organized at the Conciergerie, brings together monument teams and partner organizations to present programmes and discuss reception modalities.

The week acts as a space for connection, mutual discovery, and projection toward cooperation beyond the event itself.

An approach structured by dialogue

The design and deployment of CMN 2030 rely on coordination between strategic leadership and field feedback.

Three dimensions appear particularly structuring:

1. Consultation and cooperation

Actions carried out with supported audiences are based on regular work with national networks and local structures. Partners participate in defining reception formats and identifying needs.

2. Team involvement

Opening access to audiences with fewer opportunities mobilizes mediation, reception, and management teams. It requires coordination, adaptation of formats, and sharing of experiences within the network.

3. Monitoring and promotion

CMN 2030 provides for improved documentation of actions undertaken in order to analyse their effects and anchor these initiatives over the long term.

The whole forms a progressive approach based on adjustment and continuity.

A dynamic that resonates with our own practices

In our work around culture–craft–citizenship coordination (CCC), we pay particular attention to analysing existing practices, collective team mobilization, dialogue with partners, and long-term monitoring of actions.

Observing the trajectory undertaken by the CMN from this perspective highlights shared concerns: structuring an intention, involving the professionals concerned, and embedding cooperation within a clear and evolving framework.

The monument as a space of relation

Through CMN 2030 and the Monuments solidaires week, the monument appears as a place:

• of heritage transmission;

• of encounter between cultural institutions and social actors;

• of collective experiences for supported audiences;

• of territorial anchoring.

Openness is built through cooperation between heritage teams and support professionals.

This trajectory invites reflection on the concrete conditions that enable a cultural institution to broaden its accessibility: strategic structuring, collective work, ongoing dialogue with field relays, and long-term commitment.