The European Heritage Excellence Day 2025 took place on 12 October at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels as part of the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2025. During the event, the 30 winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2025 presented their inspiring projects and shared key learnings to some 300 participants, including renowned experts, advocates, researchers and volunteers, who travelled to Brussels from all corners of Europe.
Europa Nostra writes:
The presentations were divided into sessions dedicated to the five categories of the Awards: 1) Conservation & Adaptive Reuse; 2) Research; 3) Education, Training & Skills; 4) Citizens’ Engagement & Awareness-raising; and 5) Heritage Champions. Each laureate showcased their exemplary achievements, discussed the challenges they overcame, and reflected on the broader impact of their initiatives across Europe’s cultural heritage landscape.
The Excellence Day, moderated by Wolter Braamhorst, Communications Advisor at Europa Nostra, also fostered meaningful dialogue and exchange, thanks to networking opportunities throughout the event that encouraged discussion among the Award winners and the public.
The European Heritage Excellence Day was organised by Europa Nostra and the European Commission with the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailovi, Secretary General of Europa Nostra, welcomed participants at the Excellence Day, officially launching the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2025. She underlined the symbolic importance of hosting the Summit in Brussels — the capital of EU decision-making — and paid tribute to the winners. ‘All of you are a representative sample of the variety of actors contributing to the wellbeing of our cultural heritage and ensuring it will be transmitted, in even better shape, to future generations […] It is a great honour for Europa Nostra and the European Commission to have you here with us today, to open the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2025 by presenting best practices, projects, individuals, and organisations that are moving mountains in Europe to demonstrate that heritage matters,’ she stated.
Jacek Purchla, Vice-President of Europa Nostra and Chair of the Awards’ Jury 2025, highlighted the transformative role of the laureates’ initiatives: ‘Many of these projects set shining examples for a more sustainable, green, and inclusive future. They foster a sense of community and belonging […] Each of them is the result of passion, dedication, and commitment — of people who have devoted their time and energy to safeguarding and celebrating Europe’s cultural heritage in all its rich diversity.’
A few important messages from the winners
Heritage Champion Varvara Buzil?, who has dedicated over 45 years of her life to safeguarding Moldova’s intangible cultural heritage, conveyed a powerful message: ‘In my opinion, the most important work of our time is protecting cultural heritage and passing it on to the younger generations,’ she stated.
Ludovic Lebeau of Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris (France) underlined the work of the skilled artisans who helped to restore the iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. ‘Without expertise and craftsmanship, none of this would be possible to preserve our shared heritage,’ he highlighted.
Amilcar Vargas and Ana María Acosta of Casa Batlló in Barcelona (Spain), which has pioneered the inclusion of neurodivergent individuals in public-facing museum roles, emphasised: ‘Thanks to the neurodivergent team, our project stands as an international benchmark for inclusion’.
A few interesting facts from the winners’ presentations
Heritage Champion Inge Bisgaard has worked in -30C conditions in order to protect heritage in Greenland. Since 2011, she has been a museum curator at the Greenland National Museum and Archives in Nuuk. There, she has led efforts to evaluate, safeguard and communicate Greenland’s built environment — from Cold War military sites at Ikkatteq and Marrak to 18th-century wooden houses, such as those in Ilimanaq.
We learned from The Heritage Trees Project (a winner from Belgium in the Research category) that the propagation of ancient trees — using the DNA from the ancient trees themselves — is difficult but not impossible. Since 2020, the project has developed a practical way to save these trees by taking cuttings or grafts and growing new trees with the same genetic characteristics. More than 115 unique trees have been selected, over 800 young trees have been raised, and more than 100 have already been planted in public spaces.
The Glacier Archaeology Programme, through its project known as Secrets of the Ice (a winner from Norway in the Research category), has discovered artefacts up to 6,000 years old — including the world’s best-preserved ancient skis. Secrets of the Ice has in total documented over 4,500 artefacts, which amounts to half of the world’s glacial archaeological findings.
Judith Videcoq, Head of Unit for Creative Europe at the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission, made the concluding remarks. ‘You have shown us not just what you have achieved, but how you have achieved it — with creativity, courage, collaboration, and an unwavering belief in the value of cultural heritage for our societies. Your stories have also reminded us: heritage work is not easy. It takes technical expertise, a wide range of skills, the ability to innovate — but also passion, perseverance, and above all, patience,’’she stated.
Judith Videcoq also emphasised how cultural heritage can be a tool to unite people and look towards the future. ‘Heritage is not just about preserving the past; it is about shaping a better, more sustainable, and more inclusive future. Heritage connects us, teaches us, and empowers us to envision a future where culture and history are living forces for community, education, and innovation,’ she said.
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