24.2.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
L 45/1469 COMMISSION PILOT PROJECTS
CHAPTER PP 07 — INVESTING IN PEOPLE, SOCIAL COHESION AND VALUES (cont'd) PP 07 22
(cont'd)
PP 07 22 01
(cont'd) Remarks Europe’s cultural heritage in all its diversity bears enormous multiple values to Europe’s citizens and their communities and living environment, both urban and rural.
As such, it is a key asset for the future of Europe.
It bridges our past, present and future, by connecting people, including young people, across borders, cultures and generations, and strengthens our sense of pride and belonging (both at local and European levels).
It also fosters social cohesion and inclusion and contributes to sustainable development especially by playing a key role in climate action as well as the green and digital transformation of our way of life.
The successful European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018, with its unprecedented mobilisation of heritage actors - both public and private - at all levels and throughout the entire continent, including candidate member states, clearly demonstrated the potential of cultural heritage to raise citizens’ awareness of and engagement in the European project based on shared history and values, especially among the younger generations.
The objective of the pilot project is to properly and effectively sustain the legacy of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 by supporting the setting up of a ‘European Heritage Hub’, as an autonomous advocacy and knowledge platform bringing together all heritage stakeholders.
It will be working under the auspices of the Commission’s expert group on cultural heritage to ensure coherent and concerted action with the Commission (DG EAC) for the benefit of a continuous and enhanced dialogue and action by all Union institutions and stakeholders.
It will also seek to strengthen the engagement of citizens (especially young generation) with Europe’s cultural heritage.
This will be achieved by mainstreaming youth in all activities of the platform.
The existing heritage stakeholders’ landscape is extremely rich and varied yet still fragmented and therefore in need of stronger coordination.
Everyone would thus hugely benefit from a permanent and dynamic ‘hub’ that will foster, on a continuous basis and in a flexible and cost-effective manner, synergies between various projects (many of which are funded by the Union programmes), various Union policy programmes which have a direct or indirect impact on cultural heritage, and various heritage-related initiatives and best practices developed by heritage stakeholders at all levels of governance (local, regional, national, European and international).
Such a ‘European Heritage Hub’ will serve the interests and reflect the concerns of the entire ‘cultural heritage ecosystem’ covering tangible, intangible and digital cultural heritage, but also create synergies with all other relevant policy areas such as environment, climate action, urban and rural development, research, innovation, education as well as external relations.
The main objective of such a platform will be to pool voices, forces and resources – both public and private - for the benefit of a holistic and integrated approach to cultural heritage policies at all levels, notably at the Union level, and ensure that all relevant Union and national policies and priorities duly incorporate a cultural heritage dimension.
In doing so, it shall respect the cross-cutting priorities of: — Inclusiveness, diversity and equality, notably by targeting young people through communication campaigns, engaging and empowering projects as well as training opportunities; — Green transformation and the fight against climate change, notably by mobilising cultural heritage stakeholders to address the most pressing topic of climate change and cultural heritage, both as a threat to cultural heritage and as an opportunity to develop adaptation and mitigation measures.