Europa Nostra

Europa Nostra, 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 [ [http://www.europanostra.org/ official web-site] ] .

Europa Nostra is dedicated to putting heritage and its benefits in the mainstream of public consciousness and to making 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 exemplary 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. [ [http://www.europanostra.org/lang_en/index.html history of Europa Nostra] ]

Europa Nostra is presided over by 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.

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:
* Non-governmental and non-profit heritage organisation at European, national, regional or local level can apply to become a Member Organisation
* Public or profit making private bodies can submit an application to become an Associate Organisation
* Individuals who wish to support Europa Nostra's action can become Individual MemberThe 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:
* Cultural heritage and education in a European perspective
* Impact of wind turbines on Europe’s cultural landscapes
* Strengthening the contribution of cultural heritage to sustainable development
* Striking the right balance between the encouragement of cultural tourism and the conservation of the cultural heritage
* The challenges of safeguarding Europe’s coastal and maritime heritage
* Advocating for a common strategy and agenda for heritage at the European level

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.

Recent Congresses and Forums

Stockholm, June 2007 - "Add Modernism! Modernist Architecture and Sites as Europe's Cultural Heritage"

Canisy/Paris, November 2006 - "Cultural Heritage in Kosovo: From Apple of Discord to Ferment of Reconciliation"

Valletta, May 2006 - "Cultural Tourism: Its Encouragement and Control"

Brussels, December 2005 - "Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe"

Bergen, June 2005 - "Safeguarding Coastal Heritage"

The Hague, October 2004 - "Heritage and Education - A European Perspective"

Recent Scientific Council Colloquiums

Marksburg/Braubach am Rhein, 2006 - "Reconstruction or new construction of medieval castles in the 19th century"

Sibiu, 2005 - "Fortified churches and monasteries"

Figueres and Roses, 2004 - "The re-use of redundant large European military complexes"

European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards

Infobox award
name = Europa Nostra Awards
"EU Prize for Cultural Heritage"
current_awards =


imagesize =
caption = Wall Plaque
description = best practices in heritage conservation
presenter =
country = EU and EFTA members
location =
year = 2002
year2 =
website = http://www.europanostra.org/lang_en/0260_activities_awards.htmlThe 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. [ [http://ec.europa.eu/culture/eac/culture2000/special_events/patrimoine_en.html Awards] ]

Categories

From 2008 onwards, outstanding heritage achievements in Europe are awarded in the following four categories:
* Category 1: CONSERVATION
* Category 2: RESEARCH
* Category 3: DEDICATED SERVICE by INDIVIDUALS or ORGANISATIONS
* Category 4: EDUCATION, TRAINING and AWARENESS-RAISING

Outstanding achievements must concern one of the following areas:
* Single buildings or groups of buildings in rural or urban setting
* Industrial and engineering structures and sites
* Cultural landscapes: historic parks and gardens, larger areas of designed landscape, or areas of cultural, environmental and/or agricultural significance
* Archaeological sites, including underwater archaeology
* Works of art and collections: collections of artistic and historic significance or old works of art

Award Winners

2006

* Sarica Church - Cappadocia (Turkey) in the category Conservation of Architectural Heritage
* Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Italy) in the category of Conservation of Cultural Landscapes
* Farbdiaarchiv zur Wand- und Deckenmalerei (Germany) in the category of Conservation of Works of Art
* The Atlantic Wall Linear Museum (Italy/Belgium/France) in the category Studies
* The Mihai Eminescu Trust (Romania/United Kingdom) in the category Dedicated Service

2007

Governance

see [http://www.europanostra.org/lang_en/0142_about_organisation_council.html EUROPA NOSTRA COUNCIL]

Executive PresidentDr Andrea H. Schuler (CH)

Honorary PresidentsSir Christopher Audland, KCMG (UK)Mr Otto von der Gablentz (D)
Baron Cardon de Lichtbuer (B)

Vice-PresidentsMr Costa Carras (GR)Mrs Catharina Collet (DK)Dott. Federico Guasti (I)Comte Denis de Kergorlay (F)Alexander Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (D)Mr John Sell, CBE (UK)Duque de San Carlos (E)

Secretary-GeneralMrs Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic (NL/SRB)

TreasurerMr Roelf Rogaar (NL)

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".

References

See also

* Art conservation and restoration
* Historic preservation
* Cultural tourism
* Heritage tourism
* World Heritage Site
* List of World Heritage Sites in Europe

External links

* [http://www.europanostra.org/ Europa Nostra]