European Union supports network project Europa Nostra Heritage Agora for the next four years

Europa Nostra has been selected for EU funding for the implementation of its renewed network project Europa Nostra Heritage Agora for the next four years. We are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with the European Commission, which will provide the financial resources needed to drive forward our strategic priorities from January 2025 to December 2028. The evaluators recognised the excellent quality of Europa Nostra’s project proposal, which scored 91 out of 100 points.

 

In their Evaluation Summary Report, the evaluators stressed that “the proposal’s complementarity is in an excellent manner integrated into an overall cultural heritage policy development and action framework. The innovation is demonstrated by the strategy of developing a bottom-up approach that engages public and private sectors as well as citizens in grassroots heritage-led activities; and by enhancing creative partnerships that promote dialogue and strengthen synergies within and between the wider cultural and heritage sector.”

Through a set of networking, training, policy and advocacy activities, the AGORA project intends to actively engage the heritage civil society movement beyond Europa Nostra’s wide network of members and partners, across borders and sectors, and reaching out to citizens at large.

The main objectives of the AGORA project are:
– to promote a people-centred, inclusive, diverse and participatory approach in the heritage ecosystem in which communities, civil society and citizens play a vital role;
– to contribute to the elaboration of evidence-driven and holistic heritage-led strategies and policies at all levels of governance; and
– to raise awareness of the multiple values of cultural and natural heritage for Europe’s economy, society and the environment among policy and decision-makers, professionals and citizens.

These objectives will be achieved through a series of activities and outputs from 2025 to 2028, namely:
• the organisation of 4 European Cultural Heritage Summits;
• the production of at least 4 Policy documents;
• the coordination of 2 heritage-dedicated sub-networks (#Women4Heritage and #Youth4Heritage);
• the organisation of 4 Creative and Inclusive European Heritage Residencies;
• the ongoing campaigning for heritage at risk with 1 related annual event;
• the organisation of 4 European Heritage Masterclasses;
• the development of or support to at least 4 Creative Partnerships;
• the production of online, media and promotional outcomes: AGORA website, social media posts, newsletters, media releases and promotional tools.

 

The expected outcomes of the AGORA network project are the reinforcement of a resilient and inclusive civil society movement for cultural heritage, engaged in a democratic, multi-stakeholder and intercultural way to promote the multiple value of heritage to overcome today’s socio-economic challenges and having them fully reflected in related EU policies, strategies and funding opportunities.

Europa Nostra Heritage Agora is the fourth network project to be carried out by Europa Nostra with the support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. It builds on the achievements of the previous network projects, namely Mainstreaming Heritage (September 2014 to September 2017), Sharing Heritage – Sharing Values (September 2017 to December 2021), and European Cultural Heritage Agora: “Empowering Europe’s Civil Society Movement for Heritage” (January 2022 to December 2024).