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Policy|Belgium|EU level

Cultural Heritage in Action

Project title

Cultural Heritage in Action

Description of initiative

Eurocities, in partnership with KEA, ERRIN, Europa Nostra and the Architects Council of Europe, has been selected by the European Commission to implement Cultural heritage in action, a peer-learning scheme financed by the European Union on cultural heritage to support exchanges between large numbers of cities, regions and stakeholders, thus building a broad learning community.
The project is one of the actions of the European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage of the European Commission (setting a common direction for heritage-related activities in EU policies and programmes), adopted in December 2018 as a legacy document of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. Since 2020, Cultural Heritage in Action empowers cities and regions to strengthen their cultural heritage policies and initiatives as well as develop innovative solutions to preserve cultural heritage assets. Across the European Union, cultural heritage is an important asset for culture, economy, tourism and territorial competitiveness. It shapes identities of cities and regions, positively affects well-being and quality of life and contributes to social cohesion. Investing in cultural heritage is strategic for cities and regions. Some have been more successful than others in making bold investments about cultural heritage, and in ensuring long term benefits.

Further information on the initiative

Themes: Culture and...

Individual well-being
Community well-being
Quality of spaces and built environments

Keywords

cities, regions, policies, innovative solutions, life quality

Target group

Not targeted to a specific group

Cultural field

Heritage

Timeframe

2020 - 2023

Sources of funding

Creative Europe Programme of the EU

Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt

In November 2020, a catalogue of 32 best practices from EU cities/regions was published on the website, focusing on participatory governance of cultural heritage, adaptive reuse of built heritage and quality of interventions on cultural heritage. Based on this selection, 12 peer-learning visits will take place, bringing 20+ participants per visit (urban, rural and regional policy makers as well as individuals with demonstrated interest and expertise). Some examples of best practices identified during the project where health and well-being are explicitly linked to cultural heritage:
- Leeds, United Kingdom – Building a city-wide arts and heritage curriculum to improve life chances
- Vantaa, Finland – A cultural environment programme created with local people

Organizer(s)

Eurocities Network
Public / State | Culture

Partner(s)

Architects Council of Europe
Belgium
NGO / Non-profit | Culture
Europa Nostra
Belgium
Other | Culture
KEA European Affairs
Belgium
Private / Business | Culture
The European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN)
Belgium
NGO / Non-profit | Other