Archaeology is a relatively young science whose emergence has been strongly influenced by the erudition and personal commitment of a large number of amateurs and associations. The professionalization of archaeology at the end of the 20th c. certainly took over from these associations, but it did not extinguish them: in recent years, citizen participation has given them a new lease of life; this is in line with the evolution of our societies towards greater involvement in the production, use and promotion of heritage and knowledge. Initiatives are multiplying in different forms and at different levels of social integration, aimed at involving citizens in fieldwork (surveys, excavations), in the preservation or enhancement of monumental, objects or documentary heritage, in the promotion of popular knowledge or in research projects likely to benefit from the synergy of as many people as possible gathered around shared approaches and protocols.

In archaeology, as in many other fields of knowledge (environmental sciences, astronomy, health, etc.), more and more citizen research or heritage enhancement projects are flourishing, as defined in 2016 in F. Houllié's report Les Sciences participatives en France , i.e. "forms of scientific knowledge production in which non-professional scientists, whether individuals or groups, participate actively and deliberately". In the field of culture, the forms and challenges of these new research practices were set out in the report by the Particip-Arc network (2019). This research is characterized by the dual objective of producing scientific knowledge (by collecting, analysing or enriching data) and aiming to help citizens learn and develop their skills (empowerment), whether in terms of the subject under study, the scientific method or, more broadly, the research or heritage approach.

These projects are generally carried out in close collaboration between researchers and associations and/or learned societies, thus providing a territorial base and facilitating the mobilisation of participants.

The aim of this scientific meeting organised by the Société Préhistorique Française is to help raise the profile of the many participatory archaeological research and heritage enhancement initiatives currently underway or maturing. The aim is to enable those involved to present their experiences and/or ideas for projects, and to help collectively identifying the obstacles and opportunities. Ultimately, it should help our institutions to promote citizen archaeology and integrate it more effectively into their strategies. The focus will obviously not be limited to Prehistory, but will be open to all aspects of archaeology, from the field to the laboratory and collections, including documentary collections.

Proposals for presentations should relate to completed or ongoing citizen projects involving archives or collections or field projects, and should address the following themes (non-exhaustive list):

- Collaborative collection and open access provision of data: what methods, what risks, what benefits?

- Engaging and motivating the participants: why and how do they join a project? What should be done to maintain motivation?

- Establishing or re-establishing partnerships with structured groups (particularly clubs or associations) of amateurs

- Quality of data created or collected: a priori considerations and operational precautions

- What follow-up(s) should be given to a project: from the point of view of using the corpus, or for other comparable research, or from the point of view of this new community?

- Links of any kind between the scientific project and the area/territory concerned?

Proposals for papers are due no later than 2nd October 2023.

They should include: a title, an abstract of no more than 2,000 characters and a list of authors with their affiliations.

This session is organized with the contribution of Particip-Arc network and Archéorient research laboratory.