Europa Nostra Belgium launches #SaveYourHeritage initiative in Wallonia
“Do you know of a ruined or threatened monument? Do you want to help safeguard cultural heritage?”
As a contribution to the legacy of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, Europa Nostra Belgium launched the youth competition #SAUVETONPATRIMOINE (SaveYourHeritage) in Wallonia last November. “The idea is to get young people aged between 9 and 13 engaged with their local cultural heritage,” explained Louis Maraitre, Administrator of Europa Nostra Belgium. The competition will also be launched in Flanders and Brussels (heritage being a regionalised competence in Belgium).
In an engaging promotional video, 15-year-old Belgian actor Igor Van Dessel, who gave his patronage to the initiative, calls on young people to help safeguard threatened heritage.
Young people are invited to nominate an endangered heritage monument (big or small, old or new), an ancient object or a machine located in Wallonia by submitting a dossier, either individually or as a group (e.g. with their classmates, youth movement or association). Dossiers may contain material such as a short video, a Powerpoint presentation with photos, drawings, a short publication or text.
Nominations must be submitted by email (sauvetonpatrimoine@gmail.com) before 24 April 2019. An expert jury will examine the nominations and award prizes to the winners (individuals or groups). Europa Nostra Belgium also commits to supporting the winners in safeguarding their nominated endangered heritage by contacting the local, provincial or regional authorities concerned.
Through this initiative, teachers are also encouraged to bring cultural heritage to the classroom by making use of the toolkit “Europe’s Cultural Heritage” that was issued by the European Commission on the occasion of the European Year of Cultural Heritage.
For more information on the initiative and how to submit a nomination dossier, please visit: http://www.europanostrabelgium.be/fr/
