On 12 December 2024, the European Heritage Alliance convened for its second meeting of the year. Hosted by Europa Nostra at its Brussels office, the meeting brought together over 30 representatives from 17 member organisations. Highlights included an exchange on the Culture Compass, led by representatives from DG EAC at the European Commission. Other special guests included the European Heritage Label Bureau, as external contributors.
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, Secretary General of Europa Nostra and leader of the European Heritage Hub project, gave welcoming remarks, providing an overview of the EU political landscape and welcoming the appointment of Glenn Micallef as Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport. “To achieve its many strategic objective, Europe has to be strong on values. This is where culture and cultural heritage come in, as the concrete materialisation of these values”, she stated.
The Secretary General also stressed the importance of placing culture front and centre in the Presidency of the Council of the EU, exemplified by the Hungarian mandate in 2024. She also provided an update on COP29 and encouraged members of the Alliance to continue to support the Call for Culture-Based Climate Action at COP30. Jimmy Jammar, Executive Vice President of Europa Nostra, added how important the cultural sector is in a fast-changing global political landscape as an antidote to extremism.
Shaping the future Culture Compass
It was a pleasure to host representatives from the European Commission for an exchange of views on the future of the Culture Compass, the new EU Strategic Framework for Culture led by Commissioner Micallef which aims to guide cultural integration across various policy areas, both within the EU and externally.
Susanne Hollman, Senior Expert in Policy Strategy and Relations with the Council at DG EAC, highlighted how the Culture Compass seeks to enhance competitiveness, monitor AI and copyright developments, and improve working conditions for cultural and creative professionals. She also underlined how it prioritises access to cultural heritage for young people and links to key EU strategies, including intergenerational fairness, youth policy dialogues, social rights, and jobs. It also aligns with broader priorities like digital transformation, external relations, and competitiveness.
Members of the Alliance highlighted priority areas for the future Culture Compass, including greater recognition of the role of cities and regions in the culture sector. Other recommendations focused on addressing illicit trade in antiquities, harmonisation within the Schengen area, and a stronger focus on sustainable tourism and archaeological heritage. Quality standards and youth were also emphasised as key priorities.
Connecting heritage initiatives
The meeting continued with a tour de table of the many initiatives being carried out by the members of the Alliance. The session started with an update on the European Heritage Hub activities and upcoming events.
Manon Richard, Project Manager at Europa Nostra, introduced the establishment of four regional hubs established in Athens, Krakow, Lisbon, and Nicosia, aiming to ensure a greater impact on a local level. She also spoke about the future activities that will be carried out in Armenia, Georgia, Serbia, and Ukraine as steps towards establishing Hub liaison points. An important update was the launch of the European Heritage Hub Small Grants Scheme in January 2024 with the support of the ALIPH Foundation, through which 14 projects were selected to receive funding for heritage-led projects up to 50,000 EUR.
Julie Hervé, Head of Culture at Eurocities, also informed the Alliance members about the peer-learning activities of the Hub, highlighting good practices in cultural heritage advancing the green, digital, and social transformation.
Lorena Aldana, Head of External Relations and Advocacy at Europeana, reported on the second European Heritage Hub Forum on Digital Transformation, which took place on 7 October 2024 and saw the launch of the Call to Action ‘Championing a Responsible Digital Transition for and with Cultural Heritage’. Jasna Popovic, ESACH Secretary and Coordinator of the Youth activities within the European Heritage Hub, presented the outcomes from the Youth Forum 2024, a pre-event of the European Heritage Summit in Bucharest. Emphasis was placed on the need for greater efforts in mapping youth initiatives to prevent fragmentation.
The meeting concluded with an overview of recent activities among the Alliance members, showcasing a wide range of initiatives aimed at preserving and promoting cultural heritage. Pierre Obajtek, Senior Policy Officer at ACE, highlighted the outcomes of the Krakow Conference on New European Bauhaus: Heritage & Transformation; Riin Atalu, Vice-president of ICOMOS, presented the new version of the European Quality Principles for EU-funded Interventions with Potential Impact upon Cultural Heritage; Rocío Sánchez, Communications Officer at FRH, shared the results of a survey on Craft Professions Engaged in the Safeguard of Built Heritage; Regina Garcia, Assistant Project Manager at Mad’in Europe, gave an overview of the CraftTour Initiative; Manos Vougioukas, Secretary General of ECTN, provided an update on the “Charter for Sustainable Cultural Tourism”; Jurn Buisman, Director of Museum Geelvinck, raised the alarm on European musical heritage at risk; and Tsveta Andreeva, Public Policy Manager of European Cultural Foundation, introduced participants to the Creating Actionable Futures – CrAFt project.
Additionally, Vincent Curie, Director of the EHL Bureau, and Paulo Roquete, Community Manager of the EHL Bureau, introduced the Alliance to the European Heritage Label and highlighted areas for cooperation, with a focus on capacity building, networking among sites and involvement of local communities as priorities.
The discussion highlighted the Alliance’s role as a vital platform for exchanging knowledge, encouraging collaboration across regions and sectors, and strengthening the capacity and resilience of the heritage community.
The next meeting of the Alliance is set to take place in Spring 2025.
