Europa Nostra

Europa Nostra, (Latin for Our Europe) the pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage, is the representative platform of 250 heritage NGOs active in 45 countries across Europe. It is the voice of this vast movement of European civil society active in the field of heritage towards international bodies concerned, in particular the European Union Institutions, the Council of Europe and UNESCO.[1]

Europa Nostra's main goal is to put heritage and its benefits in the mainstream of public consciousness and to make heritage a priority for public policies both at European and national levels. Its specific objectives are to promote, at a European level, high standards of quality in the fields of heritage conservation, architecture, urban and rural planning and to advocate a balanced and sustainable development of urban and rural, built and natural environment.

Europa Nostra supports national and international campaigns for the preservation and rescue of Europe’s heritage at risk. It encourages initiatives in favour of the conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage by recognising outstanding heritage achievements, in particular through the running of the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards, in partnership with the European Commission. In early 2006, Europa Nostra was selected as the new Liaison Office for the coordination of the European Heritage Days, a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission.

Europa Nostra was founded in 1963 upon the initiative of Italia Nostra, as a response to the serious threat to the survival of Venice, caused by the regular floods. In 1991 it merged with the Internationales Burgen Institut (the International Castles Institute). Today, through its various activities, Europa Nostra seeks to highlight the importance of cultural heritage as a building block of European identity and as a contribution to the strengthening of the sense of European citizenship.[2]

Europa Nostra is presided over by Plácido Domingo. Previous presidents have been HRH the Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbón, who in 2007 succeeded HRH the Prince Consort of Denmark. Its activities are coordinated by an International Secretariat based in The Hague (Netherlands). In several countries, the International Secretariat is assisted in its tasks by national representations.

Contents

Membership

To act as the voice of the vast and varied European civil society active in the field of heritage, Europa Nostra is a federation of members. Europa Nostra's membership is made up of different categories:

The federation gathers its members at the Annual Congress, which takes place at a different location throughout Europe every year. Europa Nostra attaches special importance to building the capacity of civil society to address heritage issues, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.

Influencing policy

Acting as a true European cultural heritage lobby, Europa Nostra advocates the need to take cultural heritage concerns into consideration when formulating and implementing all European and national policies which have an impact on heritage. It also seeks to highlight the importance and the specific character of cultural heritage within the wider cultural and policy agenda of important international partners: namely the Council of Europe, the European Union and UNESCO.

More specific policy issues with which Europa Nostra has been dealing over the years include:

Exchanging ideas and experiences

Europa Nostra serves as a platform for European civil society active in the field of heritage and for exchanging ideas and experiences. It organises International Congresses and Forums on various heritage subjects that are of relevance to the whole of Europe, and also smaller-scale national, regional and local meetings with heritage NGOs in different parts of Europe. In addition to this, Europa Nostra's Scientific Council organises annual Colloquiums to promote and coordinate the scientific study of ancient structures and fortified buildings. Europa Nostra is a partner of The Best in Heritage an annual presentation of awarded museum, heritage, and conservation projects.

Recent congresses and forums

Recent scientific council colloquiums

European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards

Europa Nostra Awards
EU Prize for Cultural Heritage
Awarded for best practices in heritage conservation
Country EU and EFTA members
First awarded 2002
Official website http://www.europanostra.org/heritage-awards/

The European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards were jointly launched in 2002 by Europa Nostra and the European Commission, in the framework of the Commission’s Culture 2000 Programme, to recognise and promote best practices in heritage conservation on a European level. The aims of this Awards Scheme are three-fold: to promote high standards in conservation practice, to stimulate trans-boundary exchanges of knowledge and skills, and to encourage further exemplary initiatives in the field of cultural heritage.[3]

Categories

From 2008 onwards, outstanding heritage achievements in Europe are awarded in the following four categories:

Outstanding achievements must concern one of the following areas:

Award winners

2011

Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Category 4

2010

Category 1
Category 2
Category 3

In this category, Europa Nostra Awards were presented to two projects from European countries not taking part in the EU Culture Programme:

Category 4

2009

Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Category 4

2008

Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Category 4

2006

2007

Governance

European Heritage Days

The European Heritage Days are a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission involving all 49 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention under the motto, Europe: a common heritage. Every September, as much as 20 million citizens visit one or more of the 30.000 of monuments and sites specially open for the public. In 2006, Europa Nostra was selected to assist the Council of Europe and the European Commission with the coordination at European level of this initiative.

Publications

Europa Nostra publishes several issues of its European Cultural Heritage Review (ISSN 1871-417X) each year. These magazines focus on the activities of the organisation and regularly include a dossier on a specific European heritage related subject. Europa Nostra's Scientific Council publishes the annual Scientific Bulletin.

See also

References

  1. ^ Official web-site
  2. ^ History of Europa Nostra
  3. ^ Awards
  4. ^ EU-pris til Urbygningen : Bygg.no - Byggeindustrien

External links