The European Heritage Alliance 3.3. launched in Amsterdam

The European Heritage Alliance 3.3 was recently launched by more than 25 European and International networks and organisations active in the wider field of cultural heritage on the occasion of the European Heritage Congress 2011 organised by Europa Nostra in Amsterdam. Europa Nostra will be acting as the facilitator of this newly created alliance.

The name of this newly created Alliance refers to the article 3.3. of the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty of the European Union which stipulates that “[The Union] shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that Europe’s cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.” The organisations and networks represented at the constitutive meeting of the Alliance intend to advocate together the necessity to develop a future EU strategy for cultural and natural heritage, in compliance with article 3.3. of the Treaty, and will seek to develop stronger synergies between their respective activities with regard to European policy.
These organisations and networks bring together Europe’s civil society organisations, historic cities and villages, museums, heritage professionals and volunteers, (private) owners of collections of artefacts, historic buildings and cultural landscapes, educators, town planners, etc. The “European Heritage Alliance 3.3” thus represents a very large constituency composed of tens of millions of Europe’s citizens. Europa Nostra, the Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe, will be acting as facilitator of the newly created alliance. For the full list of these organisations or networks, see below the image.

As first concrete steps of their joint action, the European Heritage Alliance “3.3” decided to endorse the “we are more” campaign launched by the Culture Action Europe in strategic partnership with the European Cultural Foundation. This campaign urges the EU Institutions to allocate adequate financial resources for culture – in particular through the future Culture Programme and Structural Funds – in the period 2014-2020. Each member of the Alliance will actively encourage their respective members and supporters to sign the “we are more” manifesto. Members of the Alliance also agreed to prepare a joint position paper on the contribution which Europe’s cultural and natural heritage brings to a series of topical agendas of the European Union, and in particular the Agenda 2020, the Digital Agenda, the Sustainability Agenda, the Creative Europe Agenda, the Research & Innovation Agenda, the Climate Change Agenda and the Territorial Cohesion Agenda of the Union.

Members of the “European Heritage Alliance 3.3” also welcomed the initiative taken by the previous Belgian Presidency of the EU by organising the Conference “Cultural Heritage: a resource for Europe. The benefits of interaction” on 9 December 2010 in Bruges. It also encourages future Presidencies and other Institutions of the EU to carry further this initiative. The Bruges Conference made a strong case for fostering a better structured and continuous dialogue between various stakeholders, public and private, working for the safeguard of Europe’s cultural and natural heritage. The Alliance and its members will seek to actively contribute to this essential goal.

Press contact:
Louise van Rijckevorsel, European Affairs, Europa Nostra’s Brussels Office, E: lvr[at]europanostra[dot]org; T: +32.2.400.77.02

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