IISH Annual Report 2024

The beginning of 2024 was a moment of reflection on the institute’s accomplishments over the past six years, following the Standard Evaluation Protocol (SEP). Drawing on our self-evaluation and a visit by the international SEP-committee, we received valuable feedback and recommendations, most notably the need to articulate a more explicit strategy for the years to come. The committee’s key finding was that the institute has performed very successfully in recent years, not only in navigating the financial and organizational challenges of the COVID-19 period, but also in securing important and prestigious external grants that have enabled the Research and the Data & Collection departments to advance their core missions. 

A special highlight was the visit of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, in his capacity as patron of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). In December, the king was given a tour of the archives, followed by a series of project pitches presented by colleagues from both the Collection and Research departments, showcasing key IISH initiatives. The visit concluded with a roundtable discussion involving important stakeholders of the Institute.

This year also marked the launch of a new five-year fellowship programme focused on global slavery history, developed in collaboration with nine other Amsterdam- based heritage institutions (museums, archives, research institutions). The programme aims to facilitate the stay of early-career historians, curators, and archivists from formerly colonized regions in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean worlds, fostering meaningful exchange of views and practices with their Amsterdam-based colleagues.

Finally, the KNAW Strategiefonds awarded funding to Fostering the Democratization of Heritage-Related Collection and Research through New Models for Citizen Science, a collaborative project involving IISH, the Huygens Institute, and the Meertens Institute. This initiative will enable pilot projects in citizen science, co- creating research questions, methodologies, datasets, and dissemination strategies in partnership with stakeholders from underrepresented communities.