Cultural Heritage for the Future of Europe: Call issued at Berlin Summit

The significance of our cultural heritage, with regard to Europe’s future, is still widely underestimated. This is the strong belief of the co-hosts of the first European Cultural Heritage Summit and the reason that today, during the high-level European Policy Debate “Sharing Heritage – Sharing Values”, they jointly presented the “Berlin Call to Action”. Among the participants and speakers were various cultural heritage stakeholders and high-level decision makers, such as Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, President of the European Committee of the Regions, Luca Jahier, President of the European Economic and Social Committee, and Françoise Nyssen, Minister of Culture, France.

The Berlin Call to Action is a significant contribution to the “New European Agenda for Culture” and the “Action Plan for Cultural Heritage” currently being prepared by the European Commission. It calls for the better use of the potential of Europe’s rich and diverse cultural heritage. In order to promote a stronger feeling of togetherness, the common European project should be focused on more than just economic, financial and security policies.

In view of the upcoming European Parliament elections in 2019 and the subsequent appointment of a new college of European Commissioners, the signatories of the Berlin Call are convinced that cultural heritage and its contribution to creating a sense of identity should play a much stronger role in the political debate. Adopting a tangible action plan for promoting cultural heritage should now be the common goal. This includes communicating cultural heritage, especially towards a younger audience, as well as pooling knowledge and professional expertise more consistently at both state level and among civil society.

The Berlin Call of Action is available for download here.

For more information please visit the website:
http://www.europanostra.org/cultural-heritage-future-europe-call-issued-berlin-summit/