Eight inspiring community-led initiatives from across Europe have been selected to receive funding through the 2026 European Heritage Days Stories grant scheme.

Drawing inspiration from stories shared through the European Heritage Days programme, the projects will help communities safeguard, reinterpret and promote heritage under the 2026 theme, heritage at risk: revive, resist, reimagine.

2026 European Heritage Days Stories grant recipients

• The Last Voices (Albania)
• Résister, Réinventer, Raviver (Belgium)
• From Votive Offering to Heritage: The Saints’ Guard Between Past and Present (Croatia)
• Miettilä Ghost-Map (Finland)
• Reclaiming the Historic Avas – Community Renewal of Neglected Heritage (Hungary)
• Architects of Peace: Women and Political Power in Medieval European Borderlands (11th–13th centuries) (Spain)
• Science History at Risk: Revive, Resist and Reimagine the Heritage of Knowledge from Bergara (Spain)
• Breaking Heritage Ambassadors Project (United Kingdom)

Together, these projects demonstrate that safeguarding heritage is not only about protecting monuments and historic sites. It is also about preserving memories, knowledge, traditions and cultural practices that help communities understand their past and imagine their future.

Over the coming months, the projects will be implemented with support from the European Heritage Days programme. Their progress will be featured on the European Heritage Days website and social media channels, providing inspiration for communities across Europe working to revive, resist and reimagine heritage at risk.