Stakeholder management in the Flemish archaeological sector

Over the last two decades, archaeological practices have transformed dramatically. From1992 onwards, the Valetta Treaty led to a major increase in development-led archaeology in Europe. Several scholars have since then expressed their concerns and critiques regarding the national practices that have resulted from the Valetta Treaty.Past critiques have addressed problems with knowledge enhancements, deficits in quality management and a lack of public outreach.Many past contributions briefly mention the stakeholders who are involved in archaeological practice, but only few have thoroughly focused on these stakeholders.Such stakeholders include archaeologists, government employees, developers and the general audience. The aim of this research was to better understand these stakeholders and their relationships, both internal and external, as well as their (perceived) power and interest. In Flanders, too, archaeological excavations are paid for by developers. There is a commercial framework in which the government determines both criteria for ‘archaeological obligation’ and quality standards. For this study, respondents were questioned from four stakeholder groups in Flanders, more specifically the government(both the Flemish Heritage Agency and local players), academics (from three differentFlemish universities), commercial archaeologists (both umbrella organizations and small businesses) and developers.Following the theoretical stakeholder framework of Ackermann & Eden, the power and interest of each stakeholder group was mapped in relation to other stakeholder groups.Several novel conflicts could be identified regarding these interrelationships, such as the altering role of governmental players and the lack of transparent communication between several actors. We are convinced that a better understanding of these relationships and conflicts of power and interest is a condition for improving development-led archaeological practices not only in Flanders, but on a European level.