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The European Commission and Europa Nostra today announced the winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2025. Among the laureates are two representatives from Poland, two from Ukraine — including a joint Ukrainian-Lithuanian project — and one from Slovakia. Altogether, the “Cultural Heritage Oscars”, as these prestigious honours are often referred to, will be awarded this year to 30 organisations, institutions, and individuals from 24 countries.

How many projects, people, or institutions from Central Europe will be celebrating after winning a European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award in 2025? Which projects are they, and what achievements do they represent? On Thursday 12 June at 11:45 am we will find out who the winners are of these prestigious European “Cultural Heritage Oscars”.

The theme of the fourteenth KHF (10 June 2025) meeting was the condition, challenges and potential of heritage NGOs in the context of a report presenting the characteristics of the heritage NGO sector in Central and Eastern Europe (“Mapping of the Central and Eastern European non-governmental heritage sector: Report”).

During the thirteenth meeting of the KHF on 29th April 2025 we returned to the topic of the city’s intangible heritage at the request of the Team for the Intangible Heritage of Kraków appointed by the Mayor of the City of Kraków. Its topic was the report worked out by the Team.

There has never been a book quite like this before. Today an exceptional volume landed in bookstores, taking readers on a journey through times of great upheaval and renaissance of Polish local government. The latest book by Europa Nostra Vice-President, Prof. Jacek Purchla, entitled “Kraków 1990. At the Turn of the Epoch,” reveals the secrets of the city during the major transformation of the 1980s and 1990s.

What exactly is a post-museum? How can museums – as custodians of knowledge – open up their collections and involve the public in their interaction? Or should they not do so at all? In the latest podcast in the Holistic Heritage series, John Beauchamp talks to Dr Katarzyna Jagodzinska about her latest book which explores the theme of participation and the concept of the ‘post-museum’. The setting for the discussion is the picturesque historic garden of the Royal Łazienki Museum in the heart of Warsaw.

Applications for the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards are open until 9 September 2025! Often referred to as the “Oscars of Cultural Heritage”, these prestigious awards are presented to organisations, institutions, and individuals who implement projects in the field of cultural and natural heritage, as well as those working to preserve, educate about, promote, and improve solutions within the heritage sector.

“When the hands work, the mind rests,” highlights Łucja Cieślar, a team member of Serfenta Association. In the latest episode of the “Holistic Heritage” podcast, John Beauchamp and Dr Katarzyna Jagodzińska discuss traditional basket weaving and the tranquillity it offers, as well as the relaxing “speech” of reeds and straw, with members of the Serfenta team: Paulina Adamska, Łucja Cieślar, and Urszula Szwed.

The team at Kraków’s Europa Nostra Heritage Hub is not only engaged in heritage practice, but also in scholarly work. The Hub’s Head, Dr. Katarzyna Jagodzińska, has just published her new book in the prestigious British Routledge publishing house: ‘Participation and the Post-Museum’.

For Easter, we wish you much joy in practising intangible cultural heritage and enjoying the distinctive rituals, traditions, and customs of this period. More than 57 different practices and skills celebrated during this time in Poland have been added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage

On 10 April 2025, in the representative hall of the Silesian Parliament in Katowice, Dr. Piotr Gerber received the medal of the European Heritage Award | Europa Nostra Award from Prof. Jacek Purchla, Vice-President of Europa Nostra, in the category of Heritage Champions. This is the highest European distinction for activities undertaken to preserve and promote cultural heritage.

On 9 April 2025 the awards ceremony for the Costa Carras European Citizens Awards for the Safeguard of Endangered Heritage 2025 will be held as part of the X Delphi Economic Forum! The Gold Award has been awarded to AKTI Project and Research Centre, the Cypriot environmental organisation, recognised for their work in raising awareness about the protection of endangered natural heritage. The Silver Award has been granted to the Italian organisation Future Food Institute (FFI) for their effective promotion and protection of cultural and natural heritage.