European Heritage Hub Project
Europa Nostra and a consortium of partners launched the European Heritage Hub project on 10-11 May 2023. Funded by the European Union, this two-year project will mobilise and strengthen the cultural heritage-driven movement in Europe with a special focus on climate action, social inclusion and digital transformation.
The #EuropeanHeritageHub inaugurated earlier this month in #Brussels 🇪🇺 After an invigorating kick-off meeting at @PressClubBXLEU & a vibrant reception at @ArtHistoryBRU w/+100 attendees, we’re excited to share the Hub’s priorities & next steps with you 👇 https://t.co/oqRIfsa16Z pic.twitter.com/VAJ6Wn2Dov
— European Heritage Hub (@EurHeritageHub) May 24, 2023
Responding to the need to set up a more permanent heritage hub in Europe, this project brings together various stakeholders from across Europe with the view of ensuring a more structured cooperation and coordination of action at all levels of governance, from local to European and international. Building on the extensive expertise and experience of the consortium, the Hub sets out to tackle the many priority goals of the European Union and its key partners in Europe and beyond. As such, climate change and the green transition; inclusion, cohesion and accessibility; and innovation and digital transition are the three cross-cutting issues which will be at the heart of the entire project and be embedded horizontally in all its activities.
The first public event of the project, the European Heritage Forum “Reimagining the Anthropocene: Putting Culture and Heritage at the Heart of Climate Action”, took place in September 2023 as part of the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2023.
🔛 We are all set to start our forum ‘Reimagining the Anthropocene: Putting Culture & Heritage at the Heart of #ClimateAction’, hosted at the @HumanSafetyNet. Join the live stream of the event here & engage in the discussion 💬 ➡️ https://t.co/Wk14Ev3lcX #EuropeanHeritageSummit pic.twitter.com/PnGyOf5mnK
— European Heritage Hub (@EurHeritageHub) September 28, 2023
The online presence of this project can also be felt: the Hub website went live in September 2023 and Hub social media channels – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube – have been active since May 2023. This online presence will be strengthened with the launch of a cultural heritage database, policy monitor and social forum in January 2024.
Europa Nostra is proud to be working with 20 partners across Europe, reflecting all levels of governance and the priorities of the Hub project.
Together with these partners, from now until 2025 the Hub activities will be progressively unrolled via 7 Work Packages:
- Work Package 1, Project Management, shall bring together a Steering Committee and Advisory board to steer the project;
- Work Package 2, Knowledge Sharing, foresees the launch of the digital interactive hub where news on Hub activities, as well as information about heritage related research, publications and initiatives, can be found;
- Work Package 3, Networking, will bring together heritage heritage practitioners and stakeholders through a series of events – both online and in person – and foresee the establishment of regional Hubs in Lisbon and Brussels;
- Work Package 4, Training and Capacity Building, focuses on thematic peer learning visits and workshops, both online and in person;
- Work Package 5, Policy Lab, establishes a monitor to follow policy development across Europe, gathering information to inform the publication of articles and policy recommendations at the end of project;
- Work Package 6, Programme Development Lap, aims to build and map synergies between the the Hub and other EU initiatives, programmes and actions across the continent; and
- Work Package 7, Communication and Dissemination, will spotlight all the above activities through online communication campaigns and awareness strategies.
The European Heritage Hub project received additional EU-funding to strengthen its action in Ukraine, Moldova, Western Balkans and the Caucasus. An amendment to the grant agreement of the Hub project was signed in September 2023 between the European Commission and Europa Nostra, in its capacity as Project Lead, to strengthen the action of the Hub in Ukraine, Moldova, the six countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North-Macedonia and Serbia) and the three countries of the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaïdjan and Georgia) with an additional sum of €1 million, 90% of which is funded by the EU. This brings the total budget of the pilot project to €4,2 million.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
