[6][7] As one of the earliest volunteer-driven forums of its kind, the Association focuses on uniting experts from diverse fields, including art, archaeology, criminal justice, and law, to collaborate and share knowledge, research, and resources.
[citation needed] In March 2018, ARCA was invited to participate in UNESCO's Category 6 expert committee meeting and conference at its Paris headquarters.
[8] In 2023, ARCA addressed an audience of diplomats, policymakers, and stakeholders at a United Nations event organized by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED).
In one notable case, the Association's contributions were acknowledged by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in New York for assisting in the Grand Jury investigation into private antiquities collector Michael Steinhardt.
This multi-country initiative is coordinated by Europol, Interpol, and the World Customs Organization and involves experts in art crime research, including ARCA's forensic analysts.
[11][12] In line with its outreach goals, researchers supported by ARCA have identified numerous looted or stolen cultural properties circulating within the legitimate art market.
[16] In 2017, the Association launched a second in-person initiative, offering advanced and introductory provenance research training courses in partnership with the Holocaust Art Restitution Project.
[17] During the stringent COVID-19 lockdowns in Italy, ARCA developed a series of online training courses to comply with health and safety regulations aimed at reducing virus transmission.
[20] When funding allows, ARCA has sponsored the documentation and exploration of new methodologies, approaches, and interactions focused on art and antiquities crime, as well as efforts toward its mitigation.
[23][24] In 2018, the event emphasized art crimes committed during incidents of asymmetrical warfare in the Middle East and featured presentations from archaeologists working in the conflict zones of Syria and Iraq.
[31] ARCA also maintains an art crime blog that provides free, open-access resources for scholars, law enforcement professionals, museum curators, and the general public.
This film features commentary from an ARCA researcher discussing the historic looting and plunder carried out by some of Italy's most notorious antiquities trafficking networks.