Netherlands

Davida de Hond is a member of the management team of Museum Arnhem, a museum located in the eastern part of the Netherlands. As head of public and program, de Hond is responsible for education, marketing, communication, programming and exhibitions. Previously she worked as an entrepreneur in the cultural field, focusing on heritage and community building. She has a focus on participation and education through heritage and art. She has also worked for Erfgoed Nederland, the national heritage agency, with a role in the team that focused on heritage from an international perspective. For the Reinwardt Academy she has worked on international cooperation projects that focused on new museology, eco museology, community building and innovation in heritage education.

Besides her different employments, she is also active as an advisor on committees regarding culture and heritage subsidies. Currently for the Mondriaan Fund, and in the recent past for the municipality of Rotterdam through the RRKC, Provincial committee on culture and heritage in Gelderland and the fund for Cultural Participation.

Michiel Purmer studied Human Geography, specialising in Historical Geography at Utrecht University. In 2000, he began working for Natuurmonumenten, a Dutch NGO that manages more than 100.000 HA of nature reserves, including a broad array of cultural heritage: archaeology, country estates, historical buildings and cultural landscapes. As senior heritage specialist he is an advisor on cultural heritage for this society in the field of landscapes, archaeology and parks and gardens. Michiel Purmer also represents Natuurmonumenten in the broad field of cultural heritage in The Netherlands, working, for example, with other nature conservation organisations, the Dutch Heritage Agency and universities.
Michiel Purmer defended his PhD thesis at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2018. The thesis, entitled Het landschap bewaard (The landscape preserved), studied Natuurmonumenten as an heritage organization, with focus on historical cultural landscapes in historical perspective.
Michiel Purmer guest lectures at universities and previously held a position at Groningen University. He regularly publishes on heritage and landscape, but also on other fields of interest like numismatic and clay pipes.
He is member of the National Consultation Panel on Heritage of the Netherlands, member of the Committee Landscape History of the Limburgs Geschiedkundig en Oudheidkundig Genootschap (LGOG), board member of the Dutch Network Historic Cultural Landscape (Netwerk Historisch Cultuurlandschap), chair of the Numismatic Study Group of the Amsterdam Museum.

While practicing architecture, Grace Emely’s passion for heritage grew stronger and became part of her since. She accomplished her master’s in Urban Management and Development at Erasmus University Rotterdam, with a thesis focused on World Heritage Sites’ impact on social and economic development. She is a freelancer and volunteer engaged in the numerous activities of the heritage industry.