During the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2023, which marked the 60th anniversary of Europa Nostra, youth representatives of the heritage field were invited by Europa Nostra to attend all the events and contribute to the main debates of the Summit.

​The delegation was composed of 22 students and young professionals, namely 10 European Heritage Youth Ambassadors 2023 and 11 young members of both Europa Nostra and the European Students’ Association for Cultural Heritage (ESACH).

1. Five young professionals of the delegation participated in the Creative Europe Networks Focus Meeting on “Heritage for the Future: European  values, citizenship and sense of belonging through cultural heritage”, where they had the opportunity to learn about the different European Networks and collaborate on drafting  the event report for the European Union.​
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2. During the European Heritage Hub Community of Practice Forum, entitled “Reimagining the Anthropocene: Putting Culture and Heritage at the Heart of Climate Action”, European Heritage Youth Ambassadors Adam Klupś and Grace Emely took  part in the Conversation III: “Cultural Heritage practice and the triple transformation of our society: green, digital and social”. Their intervention promoted the benefits of youth presence in the discussions about culture oriented climate change policies.​​

• Watch their live contributions here.

The European Heritage Hub is a newly launched EU-funded pilot project led by Europa Nostra, bringing together heritage stakeholders and initiatives across Europe to support the transition towards a more sustainable, digital and inclusive society. Within the project, two transversal Hubs have been created: Youth and Music. The dedicated Youth Heritage Hub will foster active involvement of young heritage students, professionals and enthusiasts in events and discussions, ensuring the voices of the new generation are heard. ESACH is one of the Associate Partners of the European Heritage Hub project, strengthening its commitment to continue co-developing youth activities and projects in the cultural heritage field.
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3. At the European Heritage Policy Agora 2023, Sorina Neacsu, Vice-President of ESACH, was given the opportunity to tie youth involvement to the evolving concept of European Cultural Citizenship as a more and more poignant reality. During her intervention, she outlined the collaborative position paper “Youth for the Future of Cultural Heritage in Europe”. 

​4. Downloadable pdf of the position paper available on www.esach.org.

5. This comprehensive paper was presented during the  60th Anniversary General Assembly of Europa Nostra, where Jasna Popović (ESACH’s Secretary) and Sorina Neacsu highlighted  the sustainable pledge.

6. The Infographic of the “Youth Pledge for a Sustainable and Inclusive Future” is tied to the position paper and invited the participants to widely disseminate it. This position paper is the result of the work of more than 10 partners, under the leadership of ESACH and Europa Nostra, and was developed in the frame of  Europa Nostra’s network project European Cultural Heritage Agora, which has the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

​ESACH documented the European Cultural Heritage Summit in a lively manner providing social media content for all its followers across the main platforms and was present at all other events of this year’s summit with opportunities to network and build on the ongoing peer-to-peer exchange.