Europa Nostra has strategic meeting with Assistant Director-General for Culture at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris

On 16 September 2026, Europa Nostra had an excellent first meeting with Nayef H. Al-fayez, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. Secretary General Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović and Board Member Laurent Lévi-Strauss, himself a former high-official of UNESCO, represented Europa Nostra at this strategic meeting.

The discussion focused on the centrality of culture and cultural heritage for peace, climate action and the overall resilience of our shared humanity. To champion this strategic goal, we need an even stronger partnership between UNESCO and the European Union, with the vital contribution of civil society.

The Europa Nostra delegation also presented to Mr. Al-Fayez the key pillars of Europa Nostra’s action and the key outcomes of the 2026 European Cultural Heritage Summit held last May in Nicosia, with a special focus on the Nicosia Manifesto “Heritage as the Soul of Mare Nostrum”, which calls for enhanced Euro-Mediterranean collaboration in the field of cultural heritage.

Last but not least, the conversation touched upon the vital relationship between cultural heritage and sustainable tourism as well as the need to ensure responsible and humanistic use of artificial intelligence. This latter topic will be at the heart of the official visit of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to UNESCO on 25 September.

This important exchange forms part of Europa Nostra’s international outreach and ongoing engagement with key cultural heritage partners and stakeholders at European and international level.

Special thanks to the UNESCO Representation to the EU, led by Lodovico Folin Calabi, for their invaluable assistance in organising this meeting.

Europa Nostra looks forward to continuing this strategic dialogue and strengthening cooperation with UNESCO for the protection and promotion of the shared cultural heritage of Europe and of humanity as a whole.