europa nostra heritage hub

“Cultural heritage is by nature politically sensitive, highly complex with a high degree of symbolic significance, emotionally charged and with a risk of political manipulation concerning its history, ownership and use,” we read in a “Concept on Cultural heritage in conflicts and crises” published by the European Union in 2021. 

As of mid-February 2024, UNESCO has verified damage to 342 sites since 24 February 2022 – 127 religious sites, 150 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 31 museums, 19 monuments, 14 libraries, and 1 archive. These numbers, which include only immovable cultural property, are getting higher each month.

Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi holds a PhD in cultural heritage. She has been head of the UNESCO Desk in Ukraine since October 2022. She has over 22 years of professional experience with the United Nations, mainly working in fragile states and emergency contexts.

Podcast co-host and Head of the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Kraków, Dr Katarzyna Jagodzińska spoke to Chiara during a meeting of the European Commission-led expert sub-group on the safeguarding of cultural heritage in Ukraine. The meeting was held in January 2024 in Brussels to develop a set of recommendations for the Government of Ukraine and for the Commission itself in the field of protection and reconstruction of tangible and intangible heritage following hostilities.

Vyshyvankas have always had a symbolic meaning, referring to prosperity, luck and protection. Now, at a time of war with Russia, vyshyvankas have gained an even deeper symbolism – they signify the continuation of Ukrainian culture in the face of destruction of cultural heritage.

Ukrainians believe that vyshyvankas have a magical power, and take vyshyvankas with them as a token of protection. Similarly, soldiers have gone to war with the embroidered shirts. The war introduced new military textiles and patterns – alongside geometrical and floral ornaments, patterns of tanks, drones and bombs have also started to appear.

Our guide through the meaning and value of vyshyvanka, Ukraine’s treasured intangible heritage, is Dr Lesia Voroniuk, head of the NGO World Vyshyvanka Day and co-creator of the Museum of Ukrainian Embroidered Shirts in Chernivtsi. The World Vyshyvanka Day received the European Heritage Award | Europa Nostra Award 2022, which in turn expanded its impact throughout Europe.

Produced and hosted by John Beauchamp

We take a look at industrial heritage and why we should love old factory buildings instead of tear them down. What is being done to promote industrial heritage, and what has to be done to preserve industrial heritage while keeping in line with the EU’s green deal? What can the Central and Eastern European region learn from Western European industrial preservation activities? These are just some of the key issues surrounding industrial heritage today.

In this episode we invite you to join us for our conversation on the promotion of industrial heritage and how best practices are being shared across the continent. We speak to Hildebrand de Boer, Managing Director Stichting Industriecultuur Nederland (Dutch Foundation for Industrial Culture), as well as Miles Oglethorpe, President of the International Committee on the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH).

Hosted by Dr Katarzyna Jagodzińska, Head of the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Krakow, and John Beauchamp. Interview recorded on the occasion of the Industrial Heritage in the Heart of Green Europe conference in Katowice, November 2023.

The Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Kraków  is a newly established outpost of international organisation Europa Nostra, the voice of civil society in the area of heritage, a pan-European federation of organisations involved in the protection, management, and promotion of cultural and natural heritage in forty European countries.

In this episode, we discuss ideas behind the Hub, aims and prospects, as well as current projects which are being realised with European partners.

Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Krakow is run by one of the oldest non-governmental organisations in Poland, the Society of Friends of Kraków History and Heritage.