Heritage lovers and supporters from Europe and all around the world can vote online !
Ahead of the celebration of this year’s Europe Day (9 May), the European Commission and Europa Nostra are proud to announce the 2020 winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards. Europe’s top honour in the heritage field goes to 21 exemplary achievements from 15 European countries (for the full list see below).
This year’s impressive collection of award winners range from the restoration of Rubens’ garden pavilion in Antwerp (Belgium), to the revival of the renaissance arsenal on the island of Hvar (Croatia); from the trans-European network “Tramontana” dedicated to the research of the tangible and intangible heritage of mountainous regions, to the sensitive preservation of a cultural landscape formed by subterranean caves and wineries in the province of Burgos (Spain); from the rebirth of the impressive Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio in l’Aquila (Italy), heavily damaged by the devastating earthquake of 2009, to the “Ambulance for Monuments” with an emergency team of craftspeople ready to save endangered heritage in Romania; and from “Scanning for Syria”, a research project carried out by a research centre in The Netherlands, to a major exhibition marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, organised in co-production between Poland and Spain.
Heritage lovers and supporters from Europe and all around the world can vote online for their favourite award winners and decide which achievement will win this year’s Public Choice Award. In times of confinement and physical distancing, the European Commission and Europa Nostra hope to inspire a particularly large number of people to discover this year’s award-winning achievements and to share the names of their three favourite winners. The Public Choice Award will be announced in the autumn of 2020. The winners of the Grand Prix, entitled to receive a monetary award of €10,000 each, will also be made public on this occasion.
“The COVID-19 crisis has made clear just how necessary culture and cultural heritage are to people and communities across Europe. At a moment where hundreds of millions of Europeans remain physically separated, our cultural heritage continues, more than ever, to bring people together. This year’s winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards are inspiring and powerful examples which truly contribute to a closer, more united and more resilient Europe,” said Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
“In these trying times, our award laureates, with their success stories of how adversity can be overcome through expertise, dedication and team work, are true messengers of hope. These exemplary awarded projects demonstrate that cultural heritage is vital to our mental and physical recovery from the trauma caused by the pandemic. Our shared heritage and its custodians can contribute in so many ways: from making accessible cultural content via creative digital solutions to undertaking concrete restoration and rehabilitation works as an act of social and economic rebirth for our cities and villages,” stated Hermann Parzinger, Executive President of Europa Nostra.
The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards were launched by the European Commission in 2002 and have been run by Europa Nostra – the European Voice of Civil Society Committed to Cultural Heritage – ever since. The Awards have the support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
The Award winners were selected by independent juries composed of heritage experts from across Europe, upon thorough evaluation of candidatures submitted by organisations and individuals from 30 European countries. The Juries also decided to give three Europa Nostra Awards to remarkable heritage achievements from European countries not taking part in the EU Creative Europe programme, namely Switzerland and Turkey.
In 2020, two new ILUCIDARE Special Prizes will also be awarded from among the submitted applications to the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards. The ILUCIDARE Special Prizes will be announced on 28 May. ILUCIDARE is a project funded by Horizon 2020 with the aim of establishing an international network promoting heritage as a resource for innovation and international relations.
2020 Award Winners
(listed alphabetically by country)
Conservation
- Rubens’ Garden Screen and Garden Pavilion, Antwerp, BELGIUM
- Hvar’s Arsenal, CROATIA
- Epitaphs of the University Church of Leipzig, GERMANY
- The Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, HUNGARY
- Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio, L’Aquila, ITALY
- LocHal, Tilburg, THE NETHERLANDS
- Subterranean Caves and Wineries of El Cotarro, province of Burgos, SPAIN
- The Iron Bridge, Shropshire, UNITED KINGDOM
Research
- Tramontana Network III, FRANCE/ITALY/POLAND/PORTUGAL/SPAIN
- Turin Papyrus Online Platform (TPOP), ITALY
- Scanning for Syria, THE NETHERLANDS
Dedicated Service
Education, Training and Awareness-Raising
- Cross-border Collaboration for European Classical Music, CZECH REPUBLIC
- Arolsen Archives Online, GERMANY
- The Secret Life of a Palace, Gödöllő, HUNGARY
- Uccu Roma Informal Educational Foundation, HUNGARY
- Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away, POLAND/SPAIN
- The Ambulance for Monuments, ROMANIA
Europa Nostra Awards go to three remarkable heritage achievements from European countries not taking part in the EU Creative Europe programme.
Category Conservation
Manor Farm of Bois de Chênes, SWITZERLAND
Category Dedicated Service
Société de Lecture, Geneva, SWITZERLAND
Education, Training and Awareness-raising
SARAT – Safeguarding Archaeological Assets of Turkey, TURKEY
Background
European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards: some facts and figures
The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards were launched by the European Commission in 2002 and have been run by Europa Nostra ever since. They celebrate and promote best practices related to heritage conservation, research, management, volunteering, education and communication. In this way, they contribute to a stronger public recognition of cultural heritage as a strategic resource for Europe’s society, economy and environment. The Awards are funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards highlight and disseminate best practices, encourage the cross-border exchange of knowledge and connect heritage stakeholders in wider networks. The Awards bring major benefits to the winners, such as greater (inter)national exposure, follow-on funding and increased visitor numbers. In addition, the Awards foster a greater care for our shared heritage amongst Europe’s citizens. The Awards are therefore a key tool to promote the multiple values of Europe’s cultural and natural heritage.
In the past 18 years, organisations and individuals from 39 countries have submitted a total of 3,150 applications for the Awards. Concerning the number of entries by country, Spain is first in the ranking, with 542 projects, followed by Italy, with 318 entries, and the United Kingdom, with 308 applications. With regard to the categories, Conservation has had the most submissions (1,794). Next comes Education, Training and Awareness-Raising (601), then Research (395), and, finally, Dedicated Service to Heritage (360).
Since 2002, independent expert juries have selected 533 award-winning projects from 34 countries. In line with the number of entries, Spain tops the list with 70 awards received. The United Kingdom is in second place
(62 awards) and Italy comes third (47 awards). Regarding the categories, Conservation has the most winners
(300) followed by Education, Training and Awareness-Raising (89), Dedicated Service to Heritage (78) and, lastly, Research (66). A total of 123 Grand Prix of €10,000 have been presented to outstanding heritage initiatives, selected from among the award-winning projects.
The Call for Entries for the 2021 edition of the Awards is now open and the application forms are available on the Awards website. Submit your exemplary project and share your expertise and success!
Europa Nostra
Europa Nostra is the European voice of civil society committed to safeguarding and promoting cultural and natural heritage. A pan-European federation of heritage NGOs, supported by a wide network of public bodies, private companies and individuals, it covers more than 40 countries. Founded in 1963, it is today recognised as the largest and the most representative heritage network in Europe.
Europa Nostra campaigns to save Europe’s endangered monuments, sites and landscapes, in particular through the 7 Most Endangered programme. It celebrates excellence through the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards. Europa Nostra actively contributes to the definition and implementation of European strategies and policies related to heritage, through a participatory dialogue with European Institutions and the coordination of the European Heritage Alliance 3.3. Europa Nostra was one of the instigators and an important civil society partner of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018.
Creative Europe
Creative Europe is the EU programme that supports the cultural and creative sectors, enabling them to increase their contribution to jobs and growth. With a budget of €1.46 billion for 2014-2020, it supports organisations in the fields of heritage, performing arts, fine arts, interdisciplinary arts, publishing, film, TV, music, and video games as well as tens of thousands of artists, cultural and audiovisual professionals. The funding allows them to operate across Europe, to reach new audiences and to develop the skills required in the digital age.