A Decade of Evolution: Education Initiatives and Public Engagement in Italian State Archives 2013–2023

This study analyses the educational and promotional activities carried out by the Italian State Archives in the decade 2013–2023, evaluating their distribution by region and assessing the impact of the National Plans for Cultural Heritage Education launched in 2015. The analysis classifies the activities according to two main functions training and promotion and examines their territorial distribution across three macro-areas (North, Centre, South and Islands) in relation to the international framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Council of Europe’s Faro Convention. The results reveal that the National Plans produced a significant catalytic effect, particularly in the South and Islands. However, when data are normalized by number of archives, the territorial disparities prove to be qualitative rather than quantitative: the Centre and the South record more activities per archive than the North, but with a less diversified offer concentrated in fewer typologies. The temporal analysis shows that the COVID-19 pandemic had an asymmetric impact, disproportionately affecting regions with fewer digital infrastructures and a more in-person-dependent offer. These findings suggest that the challenge for the Italian archival system is not merely to increase the volume of activities but to diversify the offer, strengthen inter-institutional networks, and build resilience through the integration of digital technologies.