---
title: "Connections, Corporate Memory and a Belgian Waffle: ICA-SBA 2026 in Brussels"
description: ICA-SBA 2026, held in Brussels, brought together 163 business archivists and corporate heritage professionals.
---

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# [Connections, Corporate Memory and a Belgian Waffle: ICA-SBA 2026 in Brussels](https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/pastview/connections-corporate-memory-and-a-belgian-waffle-ica-sba-2026-in-brussels)

 Written by [Casper Smithson](https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/pastview/author/casper-smithson) | October 9, 2026 at 9:52 AM

 

ICA-SBA 2026, held in Brussels, brought together 163 business archivists and corporate heritage professionals to explore how companies preserve, digitise and activate their historical archives - from Ford and Carhartt to HEINEKEN and VOLVO.

There aren’t many conferences where conversations can jump from corporate memory and **Carbonara**, to an enigmatic painting in the HEINEKEN collection, a bottomless pit of photographs and the connection between Carhartt and Ford. 

But that's exactly what made ICA-SBA 2026 in Brussels so interesting. 163 people from across the world came together at the Royal Library of Belgium for two days dedicated to business archives, corporate heritage, and the stories hidden within company collections. I was very pleased to be one of them.

 

 

### Starting with a bit of corporate history

The conference actually began for me the evening before, with a visit to the D'Ieteren Gallery.

Hosted by Danaë Vermeulen, we were taken through the history of a company whose story stretches back more than 200 years - from coachbuilding through to the automotive world of today.

It was a brilliant way to start the conference. Rather than simply talking about corporate heritage, we were immediately surrounded by it. Vehicles, objects, documents and stories, all helping to chart the evolution of a business over generations.

Then it was on to the Royal Library of Belgium the following morning for the conference itself.

 

### People need to be part of a story

One of the things I enjoyed most about the programme was the sheer variety of corporate histories being explored.

We started with Franziska Eggiman from Georg Fischer and a presentation titled "People need to be part of a story," looking at the internationalisation of GF through the memories of its employees.

That title stuck with me. Because whether we're digitising an archive, building an archive website, or trying to encourage people to engage with a collection, ultimately it is the stories and the people within them that make the material meaningful.

From there we travelled around the world without leaving Brussels. Vrunda Pathare explored how the Godrej Archives bring together design, industry and social history, while Juan Facundo Araujo and Mariela Ceva discussed the challenges of rescuing business archives in Argentina when the industries that created them have disappeared.

We also heard an introduction to the sounds and memory of Cuba's oldest record company, EGREM. The presenters couldn't make it to Brussels, but they shared a playlist of music for us to listen to on our way home. Alongside that, we explored the fragmented corporate memory of Agfa-Gevaert, the work to digitally reassemble the history of Greek Gas, and the complexities contained within the British Leyland archive.

And that was just day one.

 

### When corporate history becomes complicated

Day two moved into territory that I found particularly interesting: sensitive histories and conflicted custodians.

Corporate archives aren't always comfortable places. They document innovation, growth, products and people, but they can also contain difficult decisions, accidents, controversies, and connections to much wider social and political histories.

Alexander Bieri explored the history and mythology surrounding the 1976 Seveso accident, while Line Stejlborg Mikkelsen looked at what happens when the history of a discontinued company suddenly becomes very present. Claire Tunstall and Josephine Tierney then explored Unilever's historic connections with plantations in the Belgian Congo and the Pacific.

These are exactly the sorts of collections that demonstrate why corporate archives matter. Preserving corporate memory shouldn't just mean preserving the bits of history that make a good anniversary campaign. The difficult material, the complicated stories, and the changing interpretation of the past are important too.

 

 

### From archives to active assets

The second half of Tuesday moved towards something else I'm particularly interested in: what organisations actually do with their history.

We heard how LEROY MERLIN is bringing archives and history together for its 100th anniversary, how Pasta Cuomo is looking at corporate memory as a strategic asset, and about the growing role of the corporate heritage manager.

There was a look inside the heritage centre keeping the history of Douwe Egberts alive, and a glimpse at the work underway to bring the VOLVO corporate archive to life ahead of its 2027 centenary. HEINEKEN brought us an enigmatic painting, Banque Populaire its forthcoming virtual museum, and Ted Ryan from Ford gave a talk about the wonderfully unexpected historical connections between Carhartt and Ford. Dave Moore from Carhartt wasn't able to make it in person, but sent a video to be included in the presentation.

For me, this is where corporate archives become particularly exciting. An archive doesn't have to be somewhere that history simply sits. Done well, corporate heritage can become something people across an organisation actively use - from marketing and communications to brand, product development, anniversaries, research and employee engagement.

Digitisation plays a huge role in making that possible, but digitisation alone isn't the end goal. It's about turning collections into something people can find, explore and use.

 

### The treasure chest

One of my favourite ideas from the conference happened between the presentations.

Throughout the breaks, different attendees opened the conference "treasure chest," each sharing an object or item from their organisation's archive. Martin Gerssen from Albert Heijn kicked things off, followed across the two days by Tobias Gieb, Jacoline Bodewes, Lindsay Marien, Sylvain Cregut, Ingrid Elferink and Vincent Vanden Borre.

We had everything from chocolate and a sample bottle to a Furness helmet.

It was simple, informal and incredibly effective. Give an archivist an interesting object and a few minutes to explain why it matters, and you'll normally get a great story.

It was also a reminder that sometimes the best way to get people interested in an archive isn't to start with the archive at all. Start with one thing. One photograph. One object. One document. One story. Then see where it takes you.

 

### Brussels beyond the conference

Of course, I couldn't spend the whole trip inside an archive.

I managed to squeeze in a run around Brussels, explore a little more of the city, and - obviously - have a Belgian waffle. There was also a fantastic conference book to explore, bringing together many of the business archivists attending and their collections. Something I'll definitely be dipping back into.

Monday evening also gave us the chance to walk through central Brussels to the Bourse and Belgian Beer World for a reception overlooking the city. Corporate archives, Belgian beer culture, and a rooftop in Brussels aren't a bad combination.

Then, after a packed couple of days, it was back onto the Eurostar and home.

 

### Coming away inspired

What struck me most about ICA-SBA 2026 was the diversity of what sits beneath the term "business archive."

A corporate archive can contain photographs, films, products, packaging, advertisements, oral histories, architectural drawings, documents, artwork, clothing, sound recordings, and objects that are almost impossible to categorise.

But behind all of them are stories. Stories about businesses, certainly, but also about people, communities, industries, places and wider social history.

For those of us working in digitisation and digital access, that's an exciting challenge. How do we take collections built up over decades - sometimes centuries - and make them genuinely accessible to the people who can use them today? How do we connect an individual photograph to the people, products, places and events around it? And how do we make sure we're not simply putting archives online, but actually helping people discover what's inside them?

I came away from Brussels with plenty of ideas, conversations to continue, and examples I'll undoubtedly be talking about for some time.

A huge thank you to Nicky Blazejewski, Martin Gerssen, Robin Debo and everyone involved in organising ICA-SBA 2026, alongside all of the speakers, hosts and archivists who shared their collections and experiences so openly. And to the 163 people who came together in Brussels to talk about corporate history: thanks for the stories.

Next year, ICA-SBA will be hosted by Godrej Archives in Mumbai. I'm already looking forward to seeing what stories, collections and connections come out of that.

See you at the next one.

 

 

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