‘Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe’ Conference
The final results of the European cooperation project ‘Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe’ (CHCFE) were presented on 12 June 2015 in Oslo. The CHCFE Conference, which was held at the Aula of the Domus Media of the University of Oslo, was one of the main public events of the 2015 European Heritage Congress organised by Europa Nostra, who acts as the Coordinator of the CHCFE Consortium.
The Conference was attended by distinguished European political figures, namely Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, representing the European Union, which is the main supporter of the CHCFE project, Ingvild Stub, State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the government of the host country, which has supported the CHCFE Conference in Oslo, and Maxime Prévot, Vice-President of Wallonia’s Government and Minister for Public Works, Health, Social Affairs and Heritage, who acted as the Chairman and Host of the 6th Conference of Ministers responsible for Heritage, organised under the Belgian Chairmanship of the Council of Europe on 22-24 April 2015 in Namur. The Conference was closed by an inspirational speech by Loyd Grossman, Chairman of The Heritage Alliance based in London which brings together nearly 100 independent heritage organisations from all over England.
Representatives from all CHCFE project partners – namely ENCATC (the European Network on Cultural Management and Cultural Policy Education), Heritage Europe (the European Association of Historic Towns and Regions), the International Cultural Centre (Krakow, Poland) and the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation at the University of Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), as well as The Heritage Alliance (England, UK) (as associate partner) – were in the Norwegian capital for the presentation of the results of the project. This follows two years of collaboration to collect and analyse existing and accessible evidence-based research and case studies on the economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts of cultural heritage, in order to assess the value of cultural heritage in Europe. On this occasion, project partners also presented strategic recommendations aimed at tapping into heritage’s full potential, revolving around five axes: Supporting Evidence-based Policy Making; Measuring Impact; Monitoring Trends; Sharing and Disseminating Data; and Maximising Impact.
The event was attended by heritage professionals, academics, researchers, policy-makers and high-level representatives from EU institutions and Member States.
To close the day dedicated to the ‘Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe’ project, Europa Nostra organised a networking cruise along the Oslo fjord on-board the Christian Radich, a three mast sailing ship built in 1937.
The European cooperation project ‘Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe’ received support by the EU Culture programme. The CHCFE Conference was also supported by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants. The publication of the CHCFE Report was also supported by Bertelsmann, Europa Nostra’s corporate partner.
