Europa Nostra will create a European Heritage Hub

HomepageEuropa Nostra will create a European Heritage Hub

Europa Nostra and a group of relevant partners, including the Europeana Foundation, Eurocities, ICLEI, KU Leuven and Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Krakow, have been selected for EU funding for the implementation of a pilot project establishing a European Heritage Hub.

This ambitious project will gather diverse expertise and pooling resources to mobilise the entire cultural heritage-driven movement in Europe. This pilot project, funded by the European Union, will run for two years (Spring 2023 – Spring 2025).

The European Heritage Hub pilot project will establish and develop an autonomous advocacy and knowledge platform bringing together a large array of cultural heritage stakeholders, contributing to a more sustainable, innovative and inclusive future for the wider field of cultural heritage. It will foster synergies and cooperation between existing heritage initiatives and actors, and create new ones when relevant. The Hub will be at the forefront of advocacy for holistic and integrated policies at all governance levels and will support heritage professionals and volunteers in sharing and acquiring the necessary skills to build their resilience by adapting adequately to the triple transformation of our society – digital, environmental and social.

We are delighted that we are embarking on this new European venture in 2023, the year which marks the 60th anniversary of our organisation. Europa Nostra is very proud to act as coordinator of the setting up of a future European Heritage Hub which will bring our long-standing partnership with the European Union to the next level. This is a most challenging task which we are glad to take on together with a fantastic group of European and regional partners. We shall seek to involve the widest possible range of heritage stakeholders, including members of the European Heritage Alliance and of the Climate Heritage Network and the young generation of heritage professionals. The European Heritage Hub should be beneficial to all! It will help us to further demonstrate the relevance of cultural heritage as a strategic resource for the future of Europe and as an invaluable vector for achieving many priority goals of the European Union and its key partners in Europe and beyond

stated Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, Secretary General of Europa Nostra.

On the basis of its extensive expertise and experience of enabling and coordinating an ever-growing movement and network of heritage professionals and volunteers covering the whole of Europe, Europa Nostra will take the role of the project leader. The project will bring together relevant partners reflecting at the same time all levels of governance (EU, national, regional and/or local) and the priorities of the project (such as capacity-building, research, communication, etc.). Europa Nostra shall lead and coordinate all the activities with the invaluable input and cooperation of the partners.

The key European partners (co-beneficiaries) of the project are

  1. Europeana Foundation
  2. Eurocities
  3. KU Leuven (via HERKUL – KU Leuven Institute for Cultural Heritage)
  4. ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

These four European partners have relevant Europe-wide expertise and experience working with the topics of the pilot-project – with the special focus on climate action, social inclusion and digital transformation.   They have already cooperated with Europa Nostra, either in their capacity as members of our network, of the European Heritage Alliance, or as part of other EU-funded projects.

Other strategic partners of the project include:

  1. The Society of Friends of Kraków History and Heritage (as operator/coordinator of the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub for Central and Eastern Europe);
  2. ELLINIKI ETAIRIA – Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (as operator/coordinator of the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub for South Eastern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean);
  3. ASBL Horizon 50-200(as a newly established organisation, which will contribute to the operation of the European Heritage Hub at the heart of EU-decision making in Brussels);
  4. Centro Nacional de Cultura (as country representation of Europa Nostra in Portugal, which stands ready to become the operator/coordinator of a future European Heritage Hub outpost in Lisbon);
  5. Hispania Nostra (as country representation of Europa Nostra, which will coordinate of the youth-related activities of the European Heritage Hub); and
  6. European Music Centre (in its capacity as coordinator of the European Musician Museums and Houses Network, which will coordinate the music-related activities of the European Heritage Hub).

These partners will take the responsibility for coordinating the activities of regional outposts of the European Heritage Hub or the activities with a horizontal dimension, such as youth-related activities and music-related activities.

Several associated partners will support the strengthening or creation of new regional heritage hubs, namely the Organisation of World Heritage Cities (based in Canada), the City of Kraków (Poland), the City of Athens (Greece) and the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (Portugal).

Other partners supporting the project are the European Students’ Association for Cultural Heritage (ESACH), and the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO). 

Materials

2023

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