Europe celebrates heritage award winners in virtual ceremony

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, and Hermann Parzinger, Executive President of Europa Nostra, co-hosted the award ceremony. Held online this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it connected the heritage community remotely all over Europe.

3 Grand Prix winners

A jury of experts and the Board of Europa Nostra selected the following 3 Grand Prix winners, each receiving €10.000:

• the exemplary restoration of the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio, L’Aquila (Italy), heavily damaged by the devastating earthquake of 2009
• the outstanding project Tramontana Network III (France, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain), dedicated to researching the tangible and intangible heritage of Europe’s mountainous regions
• the major exhibition Auschwitz, “Not long ago. Not far away” (Poland/Spain), marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the largest Nazi concentration camp.

The Public Choice Award

Based on the votes cast online, the Public Choice Award went to “The Ambulance for Monuments” (Romania), a remarkable education, training and awareness-raising project. This has rescued hundreds of heritage-listed buildings in Romania through a large network of heritage organisations.

The laureates were selected from the 21 winners from 15 European countries in the 2020 edition of the awards, announced back in May 2020.

Ilucidare special prizes announced for the first time

The Commissioner announced the 2 winners of the first edition of the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes:

• Archaeology for a young future (Italy/Syria), for excellence in heritage-led international relations
• TYPA - Estonian Print and Paper Museum, Tartu (Estonia), for excellence in heritage-led innovation

ILUCIDARE aims to establish an international network that promotes heritage as a resource for innovation and international relations. Funded by Horizon 2020, the project illustrates how synergies are created between 2 EU funding programmes, one supporting culture and the other research.

Background

The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards are funded by the EU’s Creative Europe programme.

Find out more about the awards and the winners, including the 3 Grand Prix and the Public Choice Award.