In 2008 in the Ruhr, ERIH was established as a legal entity in order to maintain the network after the expiry of the EU funds. Now, five years later, we will be back in the Ruhr with our 2013 ERIH Conference.

The ERIH board members were invited as experts to visit the former power plant Szombierki in Bytom (German: Beuthen) and discuss and develop ideas how this site could be used.
Different ideas and approaches were discussed, The main questions were “What kind of use/functions are possible?”, “What are the strengths/weaknesses of the site?” and “Which key elements should the project developers focus on?”.

The main recommendations / outcomes from the workshop were:

The delegates enjoyed an interesting programme starting with a welcome reception in the historic building of Gassan Diamonds. The conference was held at the ERIH Anchor Point Heineken Brewery. On Friday the delegates experienced part of the ERIH Regional Route HollandRoute on a tour with historic busses. The ERIH board officially welcomed the Dutch Steam Engine Museum Medemblik as a new Anchor Point.
The subject of this year´s conference was “Celebrating European Industrial Heritage”. The presentations focused on industrial heritage events, their stories, their promotion and their success. Especially interesting was the co-operation between three major events - the Extraschicht in the Ruhr (Germany), Industriada in Silesia (Poland) and a new event in the Ukraine.

For centuries iron and steel have been the fundamental building blocks of modernity. These metals and the technologies, societies and cultures surrounding them have revolutionised the lives of billions of people.

The new £35 million Heartlands attraction at Pool, Wheal Martyn China Clay Park and Geevor Tin Mine have officially unveiled their European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) Anchor Points after the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site was recognised as one of the ERIH’s ‘Regional Routes’.