The European Cultural Heritage Summit, held in Berlin, Germany from 18 to 24 June 2018, provided a venue to reflect on the present and future of cultural heritage in Europe.
The week-long Summit saw exchanges from a wide range of culture actors and citizens from all walks of life, including young people from all over Europe, young professional associations and grassroots organizations to high-level policy makers. It encouraged citizen participation and stronger integration of heritage protection and promotion in policy and planning on a European level.
Wir freuen uns auf alle Gäste des / We are looking forward to all guests of the https://t.co/F3mjI4dXLu#EuropeanHeritageSummit#SharingHeritage #EuropeforCulture #Heritage4Europe #Unite4Heritage #Baukultur #kulttuuriperintö #patrimoine2018 #europeeserfgoedjaar #culturalheritage pic.twitter.com/GCLncEAHVU
— Sharing Heritage (@Kulturerbejahr) June 15, 2018
The Summit was organized by Europa Nostra, the German Cultural Heritage Committee (DNK) and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) with support from the European Commission. It represents a high point of the activities of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, which has seen to date over 2500 cultural events involving over a million people in all countries of Europe.
As part of the Summit, the European Policy Debate “Sharing Heritage, Sharing Values,” held on 22 June, provided a platform to discuss how best to use cultural heritage as a strategic resource with multiple benefits for Europe’s future. The goal is to ensure meaningful follow up on the recent momentum for cultural heritage in Europe, as demonstrated by the New European Agenda for Cultural Heritage adopted by the European Commission on 22 May.
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, Secretary General of Europa Nostra, thanked all the speakers, partners and organizations participating in this Summit, a key element of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, and the first truly European summit on the theme.
Panel discussions involving 33 speakers addressed questions such as what it means to share heritage values, bridges between heritage on the local and European levels, messages from the young generation, the contributions of heritage for economic and social cohesion, and the place of heritage in the future of Europe.
Preserve small-scale local #heritage that gives to residents of #neighborhoods, #urbanlandscapes a sense of home + belonging - Oliver Martin, @ICCROM Council Chair, speaking @ #EuropeanPolicyDebate, #Berlin @marolixx @davosdecl2018 @europanostra @europe_creative #EuropeForCulture pic.twitter.com/kFk5SQNox9
— ICCROM (@ICCROM) June 22, 2018
The European Policy Debate concluded with the presentation of the “Berlin Call to Action - Cultural Heritage for the Future of Europe,” a recognition of the shared responsibility to utilize the power and potential of shared cultural heritage to advance a more peaceful, prosperous, inclusive and just Europe. The Call to Action is open for signature to all citizens, organizations and institutions who care for Europe’s shared heritage and values.
The “Berlin Call to Action” was unveiled by Sneška Mihailović, Secretary-General of Europa Nostra, and by Uwe Koch, German Cultural Heritage Committee. A round table of European culture ministers and dignitaries from France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal spoke to the relevance of the Berlin Call to Action to leverage culture in support of a vibrant and united Europe.
Plácido Domingo, President of Europa Nostra, then presented the 2018 Europa Nostra Award winners. The European Union Awards for Cultural Heritage recognized the excellence of 32 cultural heritage conservation projects for sites and collections throughout Europe. Of these, seven projects were selected as Grand Prix laureates, with prizes of Euro 10 000 each.
“Europe is first and foremost a peace project,” stated Plácido Domingo, during his presentation of the awards. “Let it also be a cultural heritage project for us all.”
Placido Domingo, President of @europanostra - Europe is first and foremost a #peace project, let it also be a #culturalheritage project for us all #EuropeanHeritageAwards #EuropeForCulture @europe_creative @PlacidoDomingo pic.twitter.com/rCphBbRECV
— ICCROM (@ICCROM) June 22, 2018
Sign the Berlin Call to Action!
ICCROM supports the the “Berlin Call to Action - Cultural Heritage for the Future of Europe" promoted by Europa Nostra. With them, we invite all all those who care for Europe’s past, present and future to sign, support and share it widely!