Europa Nostra contributes to the Reflection Group “Heritage and the EU” virtual meeting
The Reflection Group “Cultural Heritage and the EU”, composed of national heritage authorities from a number of EU Member States met virtually on 23-24 June 2021, together with observers from the European Commission, the Council of Europe, UNESCO, as well as civil society organisations, including Europa Nostra, the Network of European Museum Organisations – NEMO, Future for Religious Heritage and E-FAITH, all members of the European Heritage Alliance. The meeting was hosted by the Slovenian Ministry of Culture.
The Group discussed the latest developments on cultural heritage policies and projects in Europe, including the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the upcoming Slovenian and French Presidencies; the high-quality Baukultur principles and related Quality System; and the contribution of cultural heritage to climate change and to the New European Bauhaus initiative, among others.
Delighted to contribute to today’s meeting of the Reflection Group “EU & Cultural Heritage“, where we have discussed, a.o.:
❗️ Culture & heritage priorities of the 🇵🇹🇸🇮🇫🇷 Presidencies of the EU
♻️Heritage contribution to sustainability
🏦 high-quality Baukultur
& much more! pic.twitter.com/SxfXkIqksh— Europa Nostra (@europanostra) June 22, 2021
Europa Nostra has been an observer in this Reflection Group for the past seven years, and this time was represented by its Vice-President Piet Jaspaert and European Policy Coordinator Lorena Aldana. Europa Nostra presented its latest activities and policy priorities, in particular with regard to the European Cultural Heritage Green Paper “Putting Europe’s shared heritage at the heart of the European Green Deal”; and the planned contributions to the New European Bauhaus and the Conference on the Future of Europe, including the organisation of engaging citizens debates on the future of Europe in cultural heritage sites across the continent; and informed the Group on the upcoming European Cultural Heritage Summit to be organised in Venice in September.
The organisers expressed their appreciation for the important work carried out by Europa Nostra for the promotion and protection of cultural heritage in Europe, as well as the mobilisation of civil society for this purpose. The Reflection Group meeting was an excellent opportunity to further strengthen the dialogue between governmental and civil society bodies active in the field of cultural heritage and to exchange information and discuss potential synergies among all the actors present.
