In 2024, the jury of the European Heritage Awards | Europa Nostra Awards will be chaired by Prof. Jacek Purchla, Vice-President of Europa Nostra and President of the Society of Friends of Kraków History and Heritage, within whose structures the Europa Nostra Kraków Heritage Hub for Central and Eastern Europe operates.
The European Heritage Awards | Europa Nostra Awards are the most important and prestigious honour in the field of cultural and natural heritage in Europe. The Awards were launched by the European Commission in 2002 and have been run in partnership with Europa Nostra ever since with the support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. An international jury, composed of independent experts from 14 European countries, will assess the submitted entries received this year from 38 countries and select the winners in five categories of entry: 1. Conservation & Adaptive Reuse; 2. Research; 3. Education, Training & Skills; 4. Citizens Engagement & Awareness-raising; 5. Heritage Champions.
Prof. Jacek Purchla emphasizes that the Awards, established twenty years ago, “are a kind of European Oscars with which we reward the best practices in various areas of our common concern for protecting and conserving European cultural heritage. In my opinion, the Awards are particularly important in stimulating the activity of civil society in support of European patrimony. Because heritage is people – heritage is us citizens: its creators, interpreters, and users”. The Awards have brought major benefits to the winners, such as greater (inter)national exposure, additional funding, and increased visitor numbers. In 2023, the winners from Central and Eastern Europe included six projects: conservation of the Veit Stoss Altarpiece in St. Mary’s Basilica in Krakow (Poland), conservation of the Steam Engine Brewery in Lobeč (Czechia), Museum of Urban Wooden Architecture in Vilnius (Lithuania), Budapest100 festival in Budapest (Hungary), Un-archiving Post-industry (Ukraine) and Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online SUCHO (Ukraine/International project).