Second phase of our crowdfunding campaign in solidarity with Ukrainian heritage defenders
We are asking our members to help us raise further funds so that we can continue to help our heritage fellows in Ukraine. All donations, however big or small, are welcome and important, and can easily be made via the Europa Nostra website.
In March, Europa Nostra and Global Heritage Fund, launched a joint crowdfunding campaign to support the defenders of Ukraine’s endangered heritage, which raised some €50,000 and was doubled by the matching contribution of € 50,000 by ALIPH – the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas.
With the vital collaboration of the HERI – Heritage Emergency Response Initiative, the campaign led to the launch of a Heritage Solidarity Fellowship for Ukraine. This scheme has provided much-needed support to heritage professionals in Ukraine who are currently facing hardship. To date, 106 Ukrainian people have received financial support and joined Europa Nostra’s network as part of this scheme.
The vast majority of the people who have received this support are living in urban areas within occupied territories and in territories where active hostilities were or are being conducted and that were surrounded and are under constant shelling. For the most part, they work in museums and libraries and other cultural institutions such as archives.
Our colleagues and contacts in Ukraine assure us that this modest support has made a difference, not least as it sends a tangible message that we in the heritage field in Europe stand firmly in solidarity with our colleagues in Ukraine.
Together with the rest of Europe, we at Europa Nostra continue to follow the unfolding events in Ukraine with deep sadness. We reiterate our strong condemnation of what is an illegal invasion and we mourn the senseless loss of life that has accompanied it. We have become increasingly alarmed at news reports which suggest the deliberate and illegal theft and damage of heritage assets by the Russian military.
While the response has been strong and we can be proud of what we have achieved, we of course want to do more. Help us as we seek to support more of the courageous heritage custodians that are saving endangered cultural treasures in Ukraine each day.