Policy
As the European Voice of Civil Society committed to Cultural Heritage, Europa Nostra acts as a relay between civil society and EU institutions, carrying out the crucial tasks of raising awareness on the value of cultural heritage for Europe, advocating to mainstream heritage into EU policies and securing adequate funding, as well as actively contributing to the EU policy debate and policy-making process.
Europa Nostra is committed to staying at the forefront of existing and emerging challenges, policies and practices, and to leading the mobilisation of the wider heritage world to address them. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked continuously to identify the impact of the crisis on heritage stakeholders. In October 2020, we published an extensive paper on the Challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic for the heritage world. The launch of the Europa Nostra Agora digital platform was a meaningful contribution to enhancing the mental health of citizens during the trying times of confinement. 17 weekly editions of the Agora were issued between April and July 2020.
Ever since, we have forcefully advocated for the recognition of cultural heritage as a strategic asset for Europe’s immediate recovery and for its long-term future. In May 2020, we joined forces with the European Heritage Alliance to launch the Manifesto “Cultural Heritage: a powerful catalyst for the future of Europe”, which puts forward 7 of the most important ways in which cultural heritage can act as a catalyst for positive change. In November 2020, we also partnered up with the wider cultural world to issue a joint statement and advocacy campaign “A Cultural Deal for Europe: A central place for culture in the EU’s post-pandemic future”.
In close cooperation with ICOMOS and the Climate Heritage Network, with the input of other members of the European Heritage Alliance and with the support of the European Investment Bank Institute and the EU Creative Europe programme, Europa Nostra produced the European Cultural Heritage Green Paper “Putting Europe’s shared heritage at the heart of the European Green Deal”, which tackles the vital and timely topic of climate action and cultural heritage. Published in March 2021, this pioneering paper correlates the contribution of cultural heritage to all key areas of the European Green Deal and proposes a series of concrete recommendations both for policy-makers and for cultural heritage stakeholders.
Europa Nostra raises awareness on the important contribution of cultural heritage to all key priorities of the European Union – from sustainable development and climate action to the digital transformation, and from social cohesion to developing rewarding skills and creating quality jobs. We are official partners of the New European Bauhaus initiative, developed by the European Commission, and are committed to actively contributing to the Conference on the Future of Europe, with the objective of placing cultural heritage at the very heart of the European project.
Europa Nostra acts as coordinator of the European Heritage Alliance, an informal platform of 51 European and international networks active in the wider field of heritage, which in 2021 celebrates its 10th anniversary.
We work closely together with institutional partners, namely the EU institutions and the Council of Europe, advocating for an integrated approach to cultural heritage. We also facilitate cooperation and coordination of cultural heritage expertise on a global scale to protect endangered heritage, in particular through regular dialogue and cooperation with international organisations, both intergovernmental, like UNESCO, and non-governmental such as ICOMOS, ICOM, the World Monuments Fund and the Global Heritage Fund.
