EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 28.10.2019 COM(2019) 548 final REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation, results and overall assessment of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018



1.INTRODUCTION 1.1.Context: Europe’s cultural heritage as a resource for Europe The European Union designated 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage (hereafter ‘EYCH 2018’). Europe's cultural heritage "constitutes a shared source of remembrance, understanding, identity, dialogue, cohesion and creativity for Europe". It “encompasses a broad spectrum of resources inherited from the past in all forms and aspects - tangible, intangible and digital (born-digital and digitised), including monuments, sites, landscapes, skills, practices, knowledge and expressions of human creativity, as well as collections conserved and managed by public and private bodies such as museums, libraries and archives, and film heritage”. As a region, the European Union accounts for more than one third of the UNESCO World Heritage List and a quarter of the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. So far, 38 sites have received the European Heritage Label for the role they have played in the European history. There are 33 certified Council of Europe Cultural Routes. Europeana, Europe’s digital platform for cultural heritage, makes accessible 54 million items from 3 700 European cultural institutions. When it comes to natural heritage, - a full part of cultural heritage - , the network of 27 000 protected Natura 2000 sites covers 18 % of the EU's land and almost 6 % of its marine territory. Cultural heritage is also a resource for Europe. Over 300 000 people are employed in the EU cultural heritage sector and 7.8 million EU jobs are indirectly linked to heritage (e.g. interpretation and security). The present report provides an overview of the implementation and results of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, in line with Article 10 of Decision (EU) 2017/864 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017.



1.2.Objectives of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 The Decision (EU) 2017/864 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a European Year of Cultural Heritage (2018) (hereafter “EYCH Decision”) established general and specific objectives. The overall purpose of the European Year was to encourage the sharing and appreciation of Europe's rich and diverse cultural heritage, to raise awareness of our shared history and values and to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. The general objectives of the Year were to encourage and support the efforts of the Union, the Member States and regional and local authorities, in cooperation with the cultural heritage sector and broader civil society, to protect, safeguard, reuse, enhance, valorise and promote Europe's cultural heritage, and in particular to: -contribute to promoting the role of Europe's cultural heritage as a pivotal component of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue(…); -enhance the contribution of Europe's cultural heritage to society and the economy through its direct and indirect economic potential(…); -contribute to promoting cultural heritage as an important element of the relations between the Union and third countries(…). 1.3.Eurobarometer survey on cultural heritage In order to prepare the European Year, a special edition of the Eurobarometer survey was carried out in late 2017. It was aimed at assessing the attitudes and opinions of Europeans about cultural heritage. The survey demonstrated that Europeans consider:

-cultural heritage is important to them personally (84%), as well as to their community (84%), region (87%), country (91%) and the EU as a whole (80%); -public authorities should allocate more resources to cultural heritage (74%), and that public authorities including the EU should do the most to protect cultural heritage. -they take pride in cultural heritage (82%), and agree it can improve quality of life (71%) and a sense of belonging to Europe (70%); 2.IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN YEAR OF CULTURL HERITAGE2018 A decentralised approach was adopted to implement the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. 2.1.Governance of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 At national level, the European Year was coordinated by “national coordinators”, representing the participating countries - all 28 Member States, as well as nine associated countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of North Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Switzerland, Georgia and Serbia). At European level, the implementation of the European Year was a joint effort of the European Commission (up to 15 DGs), the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, the Committee of the Regions, and the European Economic and Social Committee. The Commission ensured the coordination of the European Year at the Union level. The European Commission was assisted by a group of 38 civil society organisations (“stakeholders' committee”), selected through an open and transparent process, following an open call for participation. UNESCO and the Council of Europe also took part. During 2017-2018, the Commission convened six meetings of the stakeholders’ committee and of the national coordinators in order to coordinate the running of the European Year; representatives of the European Parliament participated in the meetings as observers. 2.2.Resources The European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 was allocated a budget of 8 million euro, in line with the above-mentioned Decision (EU) 2017/864 for the years 2017-18. A major part of the budget allowed the funding of a dedicated call for cooperation projects under Creative Europe (4.8 million euro). In addition, the Commission used this budget to support projects at European level, such as work with ICOMOS on EU quality standards for intervention on cultural heritage, the WeAre#EuropeForCulture project, the Faro Way project with the Council of Europe and the joint EU-UNESCO project on empowering youth for heritage; a communication campaign and a Eurobarometer survey (all together 2,8 million euro). The remaining budget covered a number of support and coordination activities. 3.KEY ACTIVITIES 3.1. Communication campaign A communication campaign was organised at EU level. The main target audiences included schoolchildren (aged 10-15) and young people (aged 15-25). The communication material made available to all EU Member states in their respective languages included a visual identity along with a logo specifically designed for the European Year in all 24 EU languages, a slogan - “Our heritage: where the past meets the future”, a web –site, printed and audio-visual communication material in all EU languages, as well as a toolkit for teachers. In addition, a bi-monthly newsletter was set up reaching out to more than 8000 people (top subscribers in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece and France). The social media campaign reached some 18 million people, the majority of whom were young people (18-24 and 25-34 accounting for approximately 31-35% each). In 2018, the #EuropeForCulture appeared 146 000 times on social media platforms. The European Year of Cultural Heritage also received much attention in the print traditional media, (26,544 media articles for an aggregated on-line readership of 5.3 million people). ARTE offered an EYCH 2018 playlist in five languages. 3.2. Events and initiatives at Member State and EU level Overall over 23 000 events were organised in 2018, reaching more than 12.8 million participants (11,7 million participating in events organised by the Member States and stakeholders and 1.1 million participating in events organised by EU institutions). The 2018 EYCH label was awarded to over 13,000 events (including 2 300 in Ireland alone).

Moreover, the third countries associated with the Year carried out more than 620 initiatives and events, attracting more than 600,000 participants. The 38 members of the stakeholders’ committee, including UNESCO and the Council of Europe, implemented 475 events and initiatives, involving almost 400,000 participants. One of the leading initiatives was the European Cultural Heritage Summit ‘Sharing Heritage Sharing Values’, which took place in Berlin in June 2018, and culminated in the Berlin call to Action ‘Cultural Heritage for the Future of Europe’, signed by more than 2200 citizens and organisations. The European Parliament organised a dedicated high-level conference and an inter-parliamentary committee meeting on European cultural heritage. The European Economic and Social Committee and the European Committee of the Regions also organised several dedicated events and communication activities. 3.3.EU funded projects and ten European Initiatives The Commission launched a dedicated call for proposals under the Creative Europe programme. As a result, 29 transnational cooperation projects were selected out of 77 applications, for a total amount of 4.8 million euro. The regular 2018 Creative Europe call for cooperation projects was also open to cultural heritage. As a result, altogether, 10.3 million euro was granted to 35 cultural heritage projects through Creative Europe in 2018, compared to 4.9 million euro for 16 projects in 2016. In addition, actions on cultural heritage received significant funding from several EU programmes, as foreseen by Article 8 of Decision (EU) 2017/864. The European Year was a horizontal priority of the 2018 Erasmus +programme and Erasmus+ awarded close to 92 million euro to 965 cooperation and mobility projects dealing with cultural heritage. An estimated amount of 6 billion euro was initially made available for cultural heritage in the 2014-2020 period under the Cohesion Funds. Updated data on the ERDF investment in cultural heritage actions is given on the cohesion data platform. In 2018 and 2019, Horizon 2020 devoted up to 100 million euro to research projects on cultural heritage. EU funding for the environment through the LIFE programme, focusing on Natura 2000 sites, also played an important role during the European Year, as did programmes on cultural tourism and citizenship via the Europe for Citizens programme. The Common Agricultural Policy through its European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) also supported many initiatives related to rural cultural heritage. Finally, in 2018, the Commission continued its political and funding support to Europeana, the pan-European online cultural platform. To complement these funding efforts, the Commission ran long-term projects and policy initiatives around ten themes (“ten European initiatives”). They were implemented in collaboration with the Council of Europe, UNESCO, and other partners and stakeholder organisations. 3.4.Transnational initiatives The European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 saw the development of numerous cross-border European initiatives initiated by stakeholders and national coordinators. Examples include the #Ode2JoyChallenge, organised by Europa Nostra (25 countries); “Work It Out” , by the European Route of Industrial Heritage whereby 3 000 young people danced across Europe simultaneously in 10 countries – and “The Torch Initiative,” coordinated by the Future of Religious Heritage, which gathered personal memories and stories of people relating to religious heritage. Finally, two examples of initiatives led by Member States that spread through Europe are “Rendez-vous aux Jardins,” by the French Ministry of Culture (16 countries); as well as the “Ringing the Bells” launched by the German Cultural Heritage Committee (800 bells in 25 countries rang simultaneously on the International Day of Peace on 21 September 2018). 3.5.Global outreach of the European Year 2018 The European Year had a global outreach. The Western Balkans countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), as well as Georgia, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland were associated to the Year. The European Year also supported capacity building for the heritage sector worldwide. EU Delegations around the world contributed to raising the international profile of the Year through different activities. 4.POLICY OUTCOMES AT EU LEVEL

In addition to a series of events across Europe and beyond, the European Year led to numerous deliverables and policy outcomes. 4.1.Engagement for cultural heritage The European Year initiated a range of initiatives to engage both younger and older generations, professionals, and local communities with cultural heritage and its European dimension. The deliverables included: -30 million people took part in the 60 000 events of the special edition of the European Heritage Days, which was dedicated to the European Year ; -Europeana implemented numerous outreach activities to support the digital accessibility of heritage resources; -a special prize as part of the European Commission Access City Awards 2019 , which was awarded the cities of Vilborg (Denmark) and Monteverde (Italy) for improving accessibility to persons with disabilities; -The European Commission's Joint Research Centre developed novel tools to foster citizens’ engagement in cultural heritage: the online platform ‘Story Maps’ (interactive and easily accessible information about EU-led cultural heritage initiatives in Europe), and ‘Cultural gems’ web app (to share and expand knowledge on cultural venues in European cities); -“Cultural Heritage” was the 2018 priority theme in eTwinning, the community for teachers and schools in Europe. The e-Twinning book "Europe’s cultural heritage through eTwinning" offered examples of projects and activities; a final Conference gathered 600 participants; -a Toolkit and an online game in all EU languages supported teachers of any subject or discipline in bringing cultural heritage into the classrooms ; -15,000 young Europeans discovered Europe's cultural heritage through the pilot initiative DiscoverEU; -Young people volunteered for heritage related projects through the European Solidarity Corps. 4.2.Sustainability of cultural heritage During 2018, the European Commission and partner organisations implemented a range of actions to integrate cultural heritage into environmental, architectural and planning policies. The deliverables included: -The Leeuwarden Declaration on the adaptive re-use of built heritage; -A catalogue of best practices in the use of investments from the European Regional Development Fund, including the Interreg programmes, to better protect, re-use, enhance and promote cultural heritage; -The report on the connections between heritage and the Natura 2000 network; -Policy recommendations for sustainable cultural tourism along with a new definition of sustainable cultural tourism; -18 European Destinations of Excellence were awarded an EDEN prize for developing a specific tourism offer based on their local tangible cultural assets; -The "World Heritage Journeys in the EU" in cooperation with UNESCO linking 34 iconic and lesser-known UNESCO World Heritage sites in 19 European countries; -6 transnational projects with 46 beneficiaries promoted transnational tourism products related to European cultural heritage using CCIs-related technologies;

-The “Barcelona Declaration” to improve sustainability and competitiveness of the social and cultural impacts of tourism in Europe. 4.3.Protection of cultural heritage The EYCH 2018 initiated a large-scale mobilisation to improve the way cultural heritage is protected at European level. The deliverables included: -“European quality principles for EU-funded interventions with potential impact upon cultural heritage”, in cooperation with ICOMOS; -Study on Safeguarding Cultural heritage from Natural and Man-Made Disasters - the first mapping of strategies and tools at the EU level contributing to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and paving the way for improved cooperation among Member States; -Research and capacity building projects to improve understanding of disaster risks to cultural heritage and strengthen preventive measures; -Study on the illicit trade of cultural goods and the use of available technologies to combat it; contributing to a deeper understanding of this criminal activity and how to curb it; -A toolkit developed in cooperation with UNESCO for European judiciary and law enforcement officials on fighting the illicit trafficking of cultural property ; -Assessing the possibility to promote the use of Copernicus, the EU Earth Observation Programme, for Cultural Heritage preservation, monitoring and management; -Mobilising the cultural heritage and historic preservation sectors for climate action in support of the Paris Agreement on the Climate Heritage Mobilisation. This was organised for the Global Climate Action Summit 2018, in cooperation with ICOMOS. 4.4.Innovation The European Year 2018 initiated a large-scale effort to foster the emergence of innovative and cutting-edge solutions to the challenges of the cultural heritage sector. The deliverables included: -The publication ‘Policy Review: Innovation in Cultural Heritage Research’ , the Cordis Results Pack entitled 'Heritage at Risk: EU research and innovation for a more resilient cultural heritage' and the publication 'Innovative solutions for Cultural Heritage'; -“Fostering cooperation in the European Union on skills, training and knowledge transfer in cultural heritage professions” - a manual of good practices for cultural and education institutions; -The preparation of the new edition of the ‘Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor’, a benchmarking tool to monitor the performance of ‘Cultural and Creative Cities’ in Europe; -The joint EU-Council of Europe pilot project ‘STEPS’, aiming at examining viable models for participatory governance; -The Joint EU-Council of Europe project “The Faro Way”: enhanced participation in cultural heritage. -The report of the EU expert group on participatory governance of cultural heritage. 5.FOLLOW UP - THE EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION ON CULTURAL HERITAGE