Europa Nostra governing bodies’ meetings in Athens
Productive and fruitful meetings of Europa Nostra Board, Council, Scientific Council, and General Assembly were held during the 50th Anniversary Congress in Athens.
Mario Frangoulis and Plácido Domingo. Photo: Ilias Georgouleas
On 13 June, the Board convened at the office of Elliniki Etairia in Plaka. The Board meeting was followed by a working lunch with the Scientific Council which allowed the members of the two bodies to discuss the future structure and priorities of the Scientific Council and to strengthen its contribution to Europa Nostra’s mission and activities, especially concerning the implementation of the new programme ‘The 7 Most Endangered’.
On 14 June, the Scientific Council met also at the headquarters of Elliniki Etairia. Professor Işık Aydemir from Turkey was elected as its new President with a renewable mandate of three years. In this new capacity he also became the new Chairman of the Jury for the Category 2 (Research) of the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. Europa Nostra expresses its gratitude to the outgoing President, Professor Gianni Perbellini from Italy, who has been appointed as the Honorary President of the Scientific Council. Etienne Poncelet from France and Ioanna Steriotou from Greece remain as Vice-Presidents. In Athens, the Scientific Council also discussed its future involvement in the ‘The 7 Most Endangered’ programme in the presence of John Sell, non-voting Chairman of the Advisory Panel of the programme.
The following day, the Council met at the auditorium of the Acropolis Museum where it was welcomed by Professor Dimitrios Pandermalis, President of the Museum. Effective discussions and decisions were taken by the Council, including the appointment of the new Treasurer, Truze Lodder, as a successor to Roelf Rogaar, Treasurer since June 2007.
The 50th Anniversary General Assembly of Europa Nostra took place on 16 June also in the Acropolis Museum and was divided in two sessions.
The first session was dedicated to statutory matters: the approval of the Annual Report for 2012, the approval of the Budget for 2014 and the various new (re)appointments to the Council. The General Assembly also decided to appoint the outgoing Treasurer, Roelf Rogaar, as Honorary Life Member of Europa Nostra, in recognition of his long and dedicated service to Europa Nostra.
The second session marking the 50th Anniversary of Europa Nostra was opened by Costa Carras. In his speech, the Vice-President of Europa Nostra evoked the main episodes of the history of the organisation, highlighting its most remarkable achievements and paying tribute to all those who have contributed to its growth, in particular to leading figures of the organisation, over the last 50 years. It was followed by a special address by HRH the Prince Consort of Denmark, who was President of Europa Nostra for 17 years, from 1990 to 2007, and by a special message of greetings read by Sir Christopher Audland, Honorary President of Europa Nostra, also on behalf of the European Opera Centre.
A panel discussion on ‘Europe-wide Mobilisation to Save our Endangered Heritage’ took then place with the introductory speech by Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, followed by interventions by high representatives of European Institutions (European Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, European Investment Bank Institute, EEA and Norway Grants and the International National Trusts Organisation).
Plácido Domingo, President of Europa Nostra, concluded this special session of the General Assembly with the following message: “We can be proud of our organisation, our members and the impressive Pleiades of inspiring Europeans who have led us. We can be proud of our fruitful dialogue and cooperation with European Institutions and our Awards programme. We can be proud of our donors, partners and supporters. But we must do more: to enlarge our network of members, to promote a New Strategy for Europe based on the huge richness of our culture and heritage and to communicate our message in an innovative and imaginative way towards the widest possible public”.
