OPENING REMARKS
Gathered in Brussels, at the heart of Europe, from 12 to 15 October during the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2025, we, representatives of civil society, policymakers at all levels of governance, heritage professionals, students and volunteers, artists, academics, and cultural advocates, reaffirm that Europe’s shared cultural and natural heritage is the foundation of our cohesion, democracy, wellbeing, and resilience
The Summit motto “Heritage Matters for Europe” is both a conviction and a call to action: heritage must be central to European strategies and budgets, shaping a better future for Europe and its citizens
This year’s Summit in Brussels came at a decisive moment for Europe. The European Commission is about to publish the Culture Compass for Europe, providing a strategic path for the cultural and heritage sector, while Member States and EU institutions are shaping the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034 (MFF), which will determine the EU’s ambition and investment in culture and heritage.
As the European Commission charts its Culture Compass, guiding Europe towards a society rooted in shared values and cultural understanding, we reaffirm the visionary principles of the Faro Convention on the Value of Heritage for Society, adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe. For twenty years, the Faro Convention has emphasised that heritage is not merely the legacy of the past, but a dynamic force connecting people, strengthening communities and shaping our common future.
The Culture Compass for Europe will set the direction, but it is the lighthouse of heritage through our expertise, stewardship, passion, and active engagement that illuminates the path, helps us navigate challenges, such as social fragmentation and political confrontation, and ensures that Europe’s heritage continues to inspire and guide us towards a sustainable future grounded in solidarity, dialogue, cohesion, economic growth, quality employment and shared values.
A Special Eurobarometer*, published in May 2025, confirms that Europeans overwhelmingly value culture and heritage, with 87% of respondents agreeing that it should have a very important place in the EU. We take this as a mandate to continue our work, ensuring that the voices of citizens inform and steer our policies and actions.
These developments are crucial not only for Europe, but also for the world, as they coincide with two global milestones: Mondiacult 2025† and COP30‡. We will continue to engage with these global fora, contributing our expertise, sharing our experiences, and helping to set new directions for culture and heritage in the context of sustainable development and climate action.
Through a set of holistic calls, we are inviting European, national, regional, and local leaders, policymakers, opinion-makers, and civil society to recognise cultural and natural heritage both tangible and intangible as a strategic priority for the future of Europe and its citizens. We are ready to lead, guide and ensure that culture and heritage are recognised as central drivers of resilient, inclusive and sustainable societies.
1. Navigating Europe: Culture Compass and Strategic Investment
We advocate that culture and heritage must be central to Europe’s strategy and budget, as part of European competitiveness. We call and count on the Culture Compass to show us a clear direction for the next MFF to deliver coherent and adequate investment.
We call for:
1. A dedicated cultural and heritage dimension in the forthcoming MFF, with a commitment of 2% of the EU budget to culture and cultural heritage§ anchored in an earmarked Culture strand of the programme AgoraEU and also through mainstreaming culture and cultural heritage in other funding programmes.
* The Special Eurobarometer 562, informing the Culture Compass for Europe, shows strong European support for culture and heritage (87%), artistic freedom (88%) and fair conditions for artists, while emphasising the need for EU and national cooperation to protect cultural heritage sites, make the arts and culture more accessible, and ensure fair pay and working conditions for cultural workers.
† Mondiacult - 29 September to 1 October 2025, Barcelona, Spain
‡ COP30 - 10 to 21 November 2025, Belém, Brazil
§ The Cultural and Creative Sectors, Cultural Heritage, and Philanthropy have joined forces through the Cultural Deal for Europe to elevate culture on the EU agenda, calling on policymakers to prioritise culture and heritage at the highest institutional level and commit 2% of the EU budget to support them.
2. Culture and heritage as a top priority across all EU institutions, recognised as cornerstones of Europe’s democratic, social and environmental model, and ensuring policy coherence across territorial cohesion, education, climate action, digital transition, innovation, and foreign affairs.
3. Stronger synergies across EU funding programmes, including economic, social and territorial cohesion (through the future National and Regional Partnership plans), AgoraEU-Culture, Global Europe, Erasmus, the Competitiveness Fund (through Digital and Horizon Europe), Green Transition Mechanisms, etc.
4. Inclusive funding across all levels, ensuring that cultural and heritage investments reach not only national institutions but also cities, regions, and rural communities, as well as civil society actors, recognising their role in fostering inclusion, democracy, and solidarity, and empowering them to do so.
2. Empowering People: Skills and Innovation for Heritage
Heritage thrives through people. We commit our knowledge, creativity and skills (traditional, digital, interdisciplinary) to safeguard heritage and bridge Europe’s green and digital transitions. We call for:
1. Investment in education and training** encompassing a wide range of skills, from craftsmanship and heritage-based climate solutions to digital skills and AI literacy, from conservation to management skills.
2. Support for youth engagement, volunteering and civil society participation Strengthening youth-led heritage networks and promoting accessibility to heritage sites, events and initiatives, ensuring that participation, innovation and heritage engagement are inclusive for all.
3. Renewed focus on intergenerational learning, blending technological intelligence with the wisdom embedded in the arts and humanities, from ancestral intelligence (AI) to artificial intelligence (AI)††
** CHARTER, the European Cultural Heritage Skills Alliance (2021–2024), was an Erasmus+ project that developed reports and resources to highlight the value of cultural heritage and strengthen the sector’s resilience and capacity to meet current and future challenges.
†† As highlighted by Alexandra Mitsotaki, President of The World Human Forum.
4. Recognition of heritage professionals as key actors in sustainability, climate action, inclusion, territorial cohesion, and digital transition and innovation
3. Living Monuments and Sites: Safeguarding Tangible Heritage
Tangible heritage both cultural and natural, from monuments and museums to landscapes and historic cities anchors Europe in place and history It is a vital resource for strengthening communities, fostering social cohesion, promoting sustainable development, and supporting integration and connectedness.
We call for:
1. Sustainable energy-efficient renovation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings and sites as models for the green transition.
2. Investment in conservation and sustainable management of heritage assets in both urban and rural contexts, including through digitisation.
3. Integration of heritage into local and regional planning, including adaptation and climateresilient planning, ensuring development respects cultural significance and social value.
4. Systematic application of Quality Principles in all EU-funded heritage, cultural and territorial projects, aligned with the New European Bauhaus (NEB), the principles of the Davos Baukultur Alliance and the Bucharest Manifesto adopted in the framework of the European Cultural Heritage Agora.
4. Living Traditions and Skills: Celebrating Intangible Heritage
Intangible heritage our traditions, languages, music, arts, architecture and craftsmanship brings Europe’s diversity and creativity to life. It is intricately linked to tangible heritage, giving a soul to historic monuments, sites and places, embodying the spirit of the place. It is a vibrant reflection of our common values and the diversity of local cultures and identities, while also contributing to resilient communities, encouraging social cohesion, advancing sustainable development, and promoting integration and connectedness.
We call for:
1. Protecting and promoting intangible heritage music, arts, oral traditions and craftsmanship with particular attention to those at risk, due to social, political or environmental pressures that threaten the continuity of cultural transmission and the exercise of cultural rights.
2. Connecting creativity with cultural transmission, aligning with existing Europa Nostra manifestos and partnerships, such as the documents related to the transformational power of music published by Centre européen de la Musique and the MERITA Platform
3. Supporting community-led heritage, ensuring living traditions continue to evolve through active participation of citizens and civil society.
4. Promoting international exchange and collaboration, enabling communities across Europe to share intangible heritage practices, foster cross-cultural dialogue and strengthen mutual understanding of living traditions.
5. Heritage as a Bridge Builder: Enlargement and Cooperation
We recognise that Europe’s shared heritage goes beyond the current borders of the European Union. We call on the EU Enlargement Agenda and the new Pact for the Mediterranean to treat culture and heritage as bridges for dialogue and cooperation that benefit all, accession countries and EU Member States, in peace-building, socio-economic development and reforms as part of a value-based process.
We call for:
1. Integrating heritage collaboration into EU enlargement and neighbourhood policies, fostering meaningful exchanges between communities and promoting partnerships based on equality and mutual respect.
2. Supporting regional and cross-border projects that foster shared stewardship and mutual understanding.
3. Recognising heritage as a platform for reconciliation, trust-building and democratic participation in both candidate and neighbouring countries.
4. Promoting dialogue and exchange between EU and neighbouring countries to strengthen cultural ties and shared European identity.
6. Global Connections: Heritage in a Changing World
We believe Europe’s leadership in culture and heritage must tackle global challenges from climate action to social justice with strong affirmation and defence of cultural rights. We champion culture and heritage as vital pillars of sustainable development following Mondiacult 2025 and ahead of COP30.
We call for:
1. Mainstreaming culture and heritage across EU international agendas as tools for sustainability and diplomacy, both bilateral and multilateral.
2. Supporting a standalone UN Sustainable Development Goal for Culture, recognising its cross-cutting impact on prosperity, wellbeing, equity, equality and innovation.
3. Reinforcing Europe’s cultural partnerships, heritage diplomacy and international cultural relations with global institutions and networks, engaging both public authorities and civil society.
4. Upholding cultural rights, ensuring everyone can access, participate in and benefit from cultural life and heritage.
7. Heritage for Peace: Memory, Identity and Resilience
Heritage protection is both an ethical and strategic imperative, especially in times of war, crisis, polarisation and displacement. It embodies memory, identity and resilience the very foundations of peace.
We call for:
1. Ensuring the protection of heritage in conflict and crisis zones, safeguarding it for present and future generations, including via digital means.
2. Recognising heritage recovery as an integral part of peacebuilding and humanitarian response from Ukraine‡‡ to Gaza§§ and beyond.
3. Supporting heritage diplomacy and international cultural relations initiatives, led by academic and civil society experts, to foster cross-cultural understanding and strengthen global partnerships.
4. Promoting heritage as a vector for dialogue, linking culture, energy, security, stability, human rights and democracy in Europe’s external relations.
THE WAY FORWARD
We urge European, national, regional and local leaders, policymakers, opinion-makers and civil society to make cultural and natural heritage tangible and intangible central to Europe’s future, forging dynamic partnerships between communities and institutions to drive inclusion, dialogue and shared values across the continent.
As Europe shapes its next political, institutional, economic, social, cultural and environmental frameworks, heritage must be seen not just as a memory of the past, but as a living force for peace, democracy, growth and sustainability
Heritage unites Europe’s citizens while celebrating the richness of their diversities. It has an intrinsic value and it is a source of creativity, imagination and innovation, anchoring our shared values in times of profound transformation.
We commit ourselves to protect, promote and unleash the full potential of heritage guiding Europe forward like a lighthouse, illuminating the way to a safer, more humane and resilient society.
‡‡ Europa Nostra has strongly supported and applauds the recent establishment of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Fund, created in response to the ongoing destruction of cultural heritage in Ukraine.
§§ The recent Pact for the Mediterranean establishes cooperative frameworks with countries located in the southern Mediterranean region.