Apply for the Costa Carras European Citizens Awards for the Safeguard of Endangered Heritage 2026

EUROPA NOSTRA and ELLINIKI ETAIRIA – Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage are proud to launch the Call for Entries for the fourth edition of the Costa Carras European Citizens Awards for the Safeguard of Endangered Cultural and Natural Heritage. For over 50 years, Costa Carras worked tirelessly in favour of Greece’s and Europe’s heritage to create a more sustainable, inclusive and beautiful world for future generations. The Costa Carras European Citizens Awards celebrate the legacy of this iconic champion of Europe’s shared heritage, and encourage citizens to engage in defence of the values he stood for.

The Costa Carras European Citizens Awards are presented annually to a European citizen, a group of individuals or a civil society organisation based in Europe* for a successful and exemplary campaign to mobilise the public to save endangered heritage in their country or elsewhere in Europe. The winner of the Golden Award receives a monetary prize of €10,000 and a certificate. The winner of the Silver Award receives a monetary prize of €5,000 and a certificate.

Applications for the fourth edition of the Costa Carras European Citizens Awards for the Safeguard of Endangered Cultural and Natural Heritage can be submitted by 16 January 2026. This Application Form must be completed and sent it via email to k.stebili@ellet.gr and info@europanostra.org.

The applications will be examined by a Jury composed of independent experts in the fields of culture, heritage and communication from various European countries.

The presentation Ceremony of the Costa Carras European Citizens Awards will take place in the framework of the Delphi Economic Forum 2026 (22-25 April 2026), in the ancient city of Delphi, Greece.

The Awards were launched in 2023 by EUROPA NOSTRA and ELLINIKI ETAIRIA. The founding partners of the Awards are The A.G. Leventis Foundation, the Delphi Economic Forum and the European Investment Bank Institute.

The Romanian NGO “ARA – Architecture. Restoration. Archeology” was awarded the very first Costa Carras European Citizens Award for its exemplary work mobilising citizens to promote and protect the outstanding heritage of Roșia Montană in Romania. In 2024, Stéphane Bern, a renowned French-Luxembourgish journalist and a prominent heritage advocate, won the Golden Award for his exemplary work in raising awareness of the need to save heritage at risk in France and in the rest of Europe. The Jury granted the Silver Award jointly to two NGOs, Archilochos – Cultural Association of Paros (Greece) and Haydarpaşa Solidarity for Society, City and Environment (Türkiye), for successfully organising local citizens movements to promote and preserve their cultural and natural heritage. In 2025,  the Cypriot environmental NGO AKTI Project and Research Centre won the Golden Award for its exemplary work in raising awareness of the need to save natural heritage at risk in Cyprus and in the rest of Europe. The Jury granted the Silver Award to the Italian NGO Future Food Institute for successfully promoting and preserving their cultural and natural heritage.

* Attributed to citizens, group of citizens or organisations from one of the Member States of the Council of Europe (47 countries). The Award will not be given posthumously.

 

More information

Full text of the Call for Entries
News about the Awards