Partners

The institution establishes numerous partnerships with various institutions: local governments, public organisations – cultural or outside the culture field, communities, associations, etc. This true partnership approach has three complementary objectives:

- Contribute to the achievement of CMN missions with a high level of standards and professionalism, whatever the activity, based on the reference partner's resources;

- Promote the establishment of the monuments in their regions and make them part of the local networks for the cultural development of these regions;

- Increase the impact of CMN initiatives by sharing ideas and resources with complementary partners.

Partnerships over several years with major national cultural institutions

Operator of the Ministry of Culture and Communication, the CMN has developed successful partnerships with several major national public institutions, notably to participate in their cultural programming:

- The Public Institution of the Palace of Versailles for organising exhibitions in the national monuments;

- The Mobilier National for an ambitious programme of presenting its furniture collections in some of the national monuments;

- La Comédie-Française, whose company has been participating in the "Mots nus" reading programme in the monuments since 2013;

- The Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives / French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), for knowledge enhancement and archaeological expertise activities.

The CMN also regularly collaborates with other major national institutions such as the Louvre, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Théâtre National de Chaillot and the Théâtre National de l'Odéon, etc.

A multitude of partnerships with communities and local structures

The local authorities at all levels (regional, departmental, inter-municipal, municipalities) are natural and indispensable partners of the monuments. The CMN now has almost 90 living agreements with communities:

- Municipalities and inter-municipal agreements: Angers, Bormes-les-Mimosas, Cluny, Bourges, Bourg-en-Bresse, Carnac, Saint-Denis, Aigues-Mortes, Carcassonne, City of Paris, etc.;

- Departments: Seine-Saint-Denis, Côtes- d'Armor, Maine-et-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, Seine-et-Marne, etc.;

- Regions: Lower Normandy, Aquitaine, Brittany, etc.

The National Monuments also work closely with cultural structures throughout the land: subsidised theatres, cultural centres, national choreographic centres, conservatories, schools and so on. In its policy of local partnerships the CMN strives for efficient coordination with the State's services in the regions, starting with the regional and departmental prefectures and the DRAC (Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs).

Privileged partners for receiving priority groups: social field, people with disabilities, school groups

To fulfil its mission of cultural democratisation, the CMN relies on agreements with network associations, which act as a relay to priority groups or audiences living far away from institutional culture. In the social field area, the CMN has an agreement with the Cultures du Cœur association, the Secours Populaire, the Salvation Army and the Comité national des régies de quartier.

Network to network partnerships for the conservation and promotion of the national heritage

The CMN is a member of several large heritage networks, such as the Network of Vauban's Major Sites, including the Mont-Dauphin mountain stronghold (Hautes-Alpes), listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a particularly spectacular example. With 9 sites listed as World Heritage Sites, the CMN is an important member of the Association of French World Heritage sites, which brings together 35 French sites classified by the United Nations for science, culture and education (UNESCO). These two associations are places of discussion on the conservation and enhancement of iconic National heritage sites.

In 2012 the CMN also joined the Iconic Houses Network, a global network of residences designed by contemporary architects and open to visitors. It provides the institution with an additional tool to promote the protection and highlighting of a more contemporary heritage of which the CMN manages two illustrious representatives, with the Villa Savoye (designed by Le Corbusier) and the Villa Cavrois (by Robert Mallet-Stevens).

The institute maintains frequent contacts with other stakeholders in heritage protection, such as the Vielles Maisons Françaises (VMF) association, which brings together private owners of monuments, or the Association Nationale des Villes et Pays d’art et d’histoire. It is also an ex officio member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a non-governmental organisation under the auspices of UNESCO, which works for the conservation of monuments and sites.