European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018

On August 30 the European Commission presented a proposal to the European Parliament and the EU Council to designate 2018 as the European Year of Cultural Heritage. “Our cultural heritage is more than the memory of our past; it is the key to our future. A European Year of Cultural Heritage will be an opportunity to raise awareness of the social and economic importance of cultural heritage and to promote European excellence in the sector”, said the Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics. The objectives of the Year will be to encourage and support the efforts to protect, re-use, valorise and promote the European cultural heritage. A particular attention will be paid to the role of heritage in socio-economic development, building the EU’s external relations and to its contribution to support cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue. The objectives are to be achieved through conferences, meetings, debates, campaigns, as well as exchanges of good practices and research projects, taking place in all member states. One of the key documents that contributed to the designation of the year 2018 to be the European Year of Cultural Heritage was the Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe report , prepared by the International Cultural Centre and Catholic University of Leuven together with a consortium led by Europa Nostra and supported by the Culture 2007-2013 community programme.

Read the proposal for the Decision on the Year