Deadline: 13-Oct-23
The Call for Entries for the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2024 is now open!
The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards aim to identify, recognise and champion best practices in the conservation of cultural heritage as well as innovative developments and knowledge in the care and promotion of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Through the power of example, the scheme enables the exchange and transfer of experiences and skills across borders and between communities in Europe and beyond. It increases the visibility and understanding of the multiple values of cultural heritage for Europe’s society, economy, environment and culture.
Outstanding heritage achievements will be awarded in the following categories:
- Conservation & Adaptive Reuse
- Research
- Education, Training & Skills
- Citizens Engagement & Awareness-raising
- Heritage Champions
Types of heritage covered by all five award categories
- Tangible heritage: archaeological sites,including underwater archaeology; architectural heritage (single buildings or groups of buildings in a rural or urban setting), including religious, industrial and engineering heritage; building additions or alterations, or new building projects of any type (cultural, residential, religious, industrial or engineering) within historic areas in urban and rural settings; cultural landscapes, including historic urban environments or townscapes, city or town squares and streetscapes, historic parks and gardens, larger areas of designed landscape or of cultural, environmental and/or agricultural significance; and movable heritage (collections or single works of art or objects of historic significance).
- Intangible heritage: including traditions, cultural and social practices and knowledge and skills related to traditional crafts.
- Digital heritage: born-digitally or converted into digital form from existing analogue resources.
Funding Information
- The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards will honour up to 30 outstanding heritage achievements, among which up to five Grand Prix will be awarded, each with a monetary prize of €10,000.
- In addition, the Public Choice Award will be presented to one of the selected award winners, following an online vote conducted via the Europa Nostra website and will also receive a monetary prize of €10,000.
Eligible Countries
- Entries for the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards may only be submitted from countries participating in the Creative Europe Programme, i.e. the 27 EU Member States, the 3 EEA-countries Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland and other third countries that have signed an Association Agreement with the EU. The following is the list of countries eligible for the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Ukraine.
- Entries submitted by countries that are members of the Council of Europe but are not participating in the Creative Europe Programme are only eligible for the Europa Nostra Awards. These countries are: Andorra, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Holy See, Moldova, Monaco, Russian Federation, San Marino, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
- N.B.: Entries to the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards and the Europa Nostra Awards apply through the same entry procedure and are evaluated together through the same process.
Entry procedure for all awards categories
- The project/entry may be submitted in one category only. In case of hesitations about the most suitable category.
- Entries may be submitted by individual(s) or organisation(s) who are entitled to represent the initiative, as long as they have included the consent from the owner of the related heritage site or collection (for category Conservation), from the author or owner/leader of the project (for categories Research, Education, Training & Skills and Citizens Engagement & Awareness-raising), or from the nominee (for category Heritage Champions). You must inform all associated partners and stakeholders that you are applying.
- Entries, or nominations in the case of the category Heritage Champions, may not be submitted by members of the Selection Committees, the Heritage Awards Jury, nor the Board of Europa Nostra.
- Entries may be re-submitted once, with the necessary adapted text of the entry dossier and/or with additional documentation.
- Incomplete entries will not be considered.
- Entries must be submitted in English.
- By submitting an entry, the entrant agrees to the processing and sharing of data in accordance with Europa Nostra’s Privacy Policy.
- Receipt of an entry dossier will be acknowledged by an automatic system.
Awards categories & conditions for submitting an entry
- Conservation & Adaptive Reuse
- Outstanding projects aiming at the conservation, regeneration and adaptation to new uses of cultural heritage, including cultural landscapes.
- Must have been completed during the past three years (within the period between September 2020 and September 2023).
- Must adhere to the most up-to-date principles and standards of heritage conservation. (identification and respect of heritage values, materials, legibility, compatibility and reversibility).
- Should be accessible to the public. Buildings or sites that are regularly used by large numbers of people, for instance schools or office premises, are considered accessible. Private buildings or sites that are regularly open to visitors, at least once a year, are also considered accessible.
- Research
- Innovative research projects which lead to tangible effects for the safeguard and enhancement of cultural heritage and/or to improve the access, enjoyment and understanding of heritage assets by communities.
- Must have been completed during the past three years (within the period between September 2020 and September 2023). For Research projects, it is recommended to wait until such a time in order to be able to present evidence of the results and long-term impact of the project.
- Should entail one or more of the following types of activity:
- Research study
- Scientific publication on the results of research
- Applied research
- Pilot projects
- New/innovative methodologies, techniques, models or tools that lead to new knowledge about a given cultural heritage site/ asset or with regard to the safeguard and/or the enhancement of cultural heritage.
- Should be innovative in nature with a clear methodology and scientific approach that are reproducible.
- Should clearly present qualitative and quantitative results that generated an improvement for heritage sites/assets, as well as for their users and stakeholders in the given context.
- Education, Training & Skills
- Exemplary projects or initiatives related to cultural heritage with the aim of fostering knowledge transfer, capacity-building and/or enhancing traditional or new skills and crafts related to heritage.
- Must have been completed during the past three years (within the period between September 2020 and September 2023), or should be ongoing and at an advanced stage in order to have led to tangible results (quantitative and qualitative) that have generated an improvement for heritage sites/assets, as well as for their users and stakeholders in the given context.
- Should be interactive and participatory and lead to the engagement and empowerment of the participants.
- Should reach beyond the standard educational or academic framework.
- Citizens Engagement & Awareness-raising
- Outstanding heritage-led projects which foster social cohesion, inclusion, multicultural dialogue and understanding, nurture a sense of place and belonging, celebrate diversity and multiple identities as well as stimulate citizens’ engagement, ownership and civic responsibility.
- Must have been completed during the past three years (within the period between September 2020 and September 2023), or should be ongoing and at an advanced stage in order to have led to tangible results (quantitative and qualitative) that have generated an improvement for heritage sites/assets, as well as for their users and stakeholders in the given context.
- Should be interactive and participatory and lead to the engagement and empowerment of the participants.
- Heritage Champions
- Influential and inspiring individuals or organisations whose exemplary action demonstrates an exceptional level of dedication, impact and civic engagement for the safeguard and enhancement of cultural heritage.
- Candidates must be nominated by another individual or organisation.
- The nominee(s) can be an individual, organisation or group of people. An acting head of an international heritage network or heritage organisation should not be nominated until such time as they are no longer in a leadership position of this network/organisation.
- The achievement in question may be remunerated or non-remunerated/voluntary.
- The nominee(s) must demonstrate a high degree of commitment, coupled with excellence in the protection, conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage in Europe.
- The achievement must have far exceeded normal expectations from heritage professionals or volunteers in the given context.
- The results achieved by the nominees must have generated an improvement for heritage sites/assets, or for their users and stakeholders in the given context.
For more information, visit European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards.