The International Cultural Centre in the European Heritage Hub

The International Cultural Centre is a member of the European Heritage Hub (EHH) international consortium. It is led by Europa Nostra and its partners include organisations and institutions involved in heritage management, promotion and research in various European countries. As part of this cooperation, the ICC will conduct research on the non-governmental heritage sector in eight European countries.

EHH is one of the largest heritage projects funded by the European Union. The pilot phase of the project was carried out between 2023 and 2025, while the current second phase of work is planned to last until 2027. The project brings together more than twenty institutions and organisations from across Europe, including the ICC and the Society of Friends of Krakow History and Monuments (SoFoKHaM), and is led by Europa Nostra, the largest and most representative network of cultural heritage organisations in Europe.

The ICC, together with the team of the Europa Nostra regional centre in Krakow – Europa Nostra Heritage Hub for Central and Eastern Europe– run by SoFoKHaM , will continue the research work begun in 2023, which resulted in the publication two years later of the report ‘Mapping of the Central and Eastern European Non-Governmental Heritage Sector’. The report presents the non-governmental heritage sector in ten countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including conclusions from statistical and empirical research on its condition, challenges and needs.

Throughout 2026, the non-governmental heritage sector in Northern and Western European countries (Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland) will be analysed, and the second part of the report will be prepared in 2027. Ultimately, in the coming years, the mapping is to cover the whole of Europe and provide a complete analysis of the non-governmental heritage sector in Europe, constituting the first study devoted to the activities of the third sector in the field of heritage.

The team, consisting of researchers from Krakow: Dr. Katarzyna Jagodzińska and Dr. Joanna Sanetra-Szeliga, as well as researchers from the Digital Centre in Warsaw: Dr. Aleksandra Janus, Maria Drabczyk and Dr. Kuba Piwowar, will be supported by a network of national facilitators. The methodology developed in the pilot phase – including literature reviews, statistical data analysis, surveys, group interviews and individual interviews – will be revised and updated for use in the second stage of the research.

The EHH will also carry out promotional activities related to heritage (podcasts in the ‘Holistic Heritage’ series produced in collaboration with Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Krakow) and networking activities.