Home News European Commission and Europa Nostra spotlight Europe’s “best of the best” heritage projects and champions at major cultural evening in Brussels

European Commission and Europa Nostra spotlight Europe’s “best of the best” heritage projects and champions at major cultural evening in Brussels

October 13, 2025 | Posted in Awards

The winners of the 2025 European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards, the highest heritage accolade in Europe, were celebrated this evening with a high-profile event held at Flagey, an iconic Art Deco building in Brussels, Belgium. This year’s European Heritage Awards Ceremony was co-hosted by Glenn Micallef, European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, and Prof. Dr. Hermann Parzinger, Executive President of Europa Nostra, and attended by other distinguished guests, including the First Vice-President of the European Parliament, Sabine Verheyen.

The Awards Ceremony gathered some 600 heritage professionals, volunteers, enthusiasts and supporters from across Europe. Organised by Europa Nostra – the leading European heritage civil society network – and co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, the Ceremony was the largest event of the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2025, which is taking place from 12 to 15 October in Brussels. The Ceremony also received the support of the National Lottery of Belgium.

The European Commission and Europa Nostra presented five laureates with the Grand Prix and one winner with the Public Choice Award for 2025 – all of which received a monetary award of €10,000. The Grand Prix winners were selected from among this year’s 30 winners from 24 European countries by the Board of Europa Nostra, based on the recommendation of an independent jury of experts.

The five laureates of the Grand Prix 2025 are:

Antwerp City Hall, BELGIUM
Grand Prix winner in the category Conservation & Adaptive Reuse
The restoration of the Antwerp City Hall, one of Northern Europe’s earliest Renaissance civic buildings, reinforced its function as the political and administrative heart of the city. Through a holistic and technically sophisticated approach, this project enhanced public access and sustainability while safeguarding a UNESCO-listed landmark for both present and future generations. The restoration, carried out from 2018 to 2022, was led by the City of Antwerp with HUB and Origin Architecture & Engineering.

Glacier Archaeology Programme – Secrets of the Ice, NORWAY
Grand Prix winner in the category Research
Secrets of the Ice is a groundbreaking research and outreach programme in Norway’s Innlandet County, documenting over 4,500 artefacts – half of the world’s glacial archaeological findings. By uniting scientific innovation, methodology, education and public engagement, it highlights the urgent impact of climate change in high-altitude archaeology. Launched in 2006, the Glacier Archaeology Programme is led by the Innlandet County Municipality in partnership with the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and the Norwegian Mountain Museum in Lom.

Pro Monumenta – Preventive Maintenance of Monuments, SLOVAKIA
Grand Prix winner in the category Education, Training & Skills
Pro Monumenta is a national initiative supporting the sustainable upkeep of built heritage. Through inspections, craft training and public engagement, it demonstrates how early intervention and skilled maintenance can reduce costs and improve conservation results. The initiative is led by the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic, co-funded by the EEA and Norway Grants and implemented in partnership with the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage.

Hedgehog’s Home – Inventing a Better World, SERBIA
Grand Prix winner in the category Citizens’ Engagement & Awareness-raising
This project reimagined a beloved children’s poem – Branko Ćopić’s poem Hedgehog’s Home – through co-creation with young children and students, promoting intergenerational dialogue and inclusivity. Developed by the Museum of Yugoslavia in Belgrade, the Hedgehog’s Home – Inventing a Better World project has sparked reflection on home, community and shared memory across Serbia and beyond.

Inge Bisgaard, GREENLAND / DENMARK
Grand Prix winner in the category Heritage Champions
Inge Bisgaard has dedicated her career to preserving Greenland’s built heritage. Through pioneering fieldwork, policy development and community dialogue, she has worked to preserve both traditional wooden architecture and 20th-century heritage – helping to define a national conservation strategy that unites science, craftsmanship and cultural identity. Her work bridges academic knowledge and everyday practice, while staying rooted in community dialogue.

The winner of the Public Choice Award 2025 is the restoration of the Puerta de Alcalá in Madrid, Spain, which combined traditional craftsmanship and scientific analysis in a large-scale public project, funded by the Municipality of Madrid. Over 100 specialists, including conservators, engineers, blacksmiths, stonemasons and sculptors collaborated to analyse and restore this iconic monument in the Spanish capital. This impressive project raised the largest number of votes, cast via an online poll with the participation of some 10,000 citizens from across Europe.

Glenn Micallef, European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, congratulated all the 2025 laureates: “Once more the winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards demonstrate the sheer diversity and richness of Europe’s cultural heritage. I warmly congratulate all winners of the 2025 edition on their outstanding achievements in safeguarding and promoting our shared heritage. Their extraordinary skills, innovative actions and huge commitment set the example for cultural heritage practices for the future. With immense dedication to our shared heritage, professionals and volunteers alike have demonstrated how to engage communities both locally and across borders, uniting people from different backgrounds and generations by working together for more inclusivity, social cohesion, sustainability and a better future in Europe and beyond.”

Prof. Dr. Hermann Parzinger, Executive President of Europa Nostra, said: “At a time when Europe’s shared culture and values are threatened both externally and internally, we have gathered in Brussels to celebrate Europe’s excellence related to cultural heritage. The winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2025 demonstrate the power of heritage to bring Europe and its citizens together in order to foster a more beautiful, cohesive, sustainable and democratic society. We applaud and admire the power of example of all winners of our Awards, with special emphasis on the laureates of the Grand Prix and the winner of the Public Choice Award. They are an inspiration for the EU’s upcoming Culture Compass and a true lighthouse illuminating the way we need to follow across Europe and beyond”.

The European Heritage Awards Ceremony takes place annually in the frame of the European Cultural Heritage Summit, which is organised by Europa Nostra and co-funded by the European Union. Holding this year’s Summit in Brussels has a particular significance at a time when the European Commission is about to publish the EU’s very first “Culture Compass for Europe” and when EU Institutions and Member States are discussing the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework Programme. This is why the Brussels Summit is held under the motto “Heritage Matters for Europe”! Focusing on the pivotal themes of Europe’s key values, starting with peace, democracy and solidarity, the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2025 highlights the political, societal, economic and environmental relevance of cultural heritage for the future of Europe and its citizens.