European Cultural Heritage Summit 2021 in Venice: a choice rife with symbolism

Europa Nostra promises a hybrid event that will also add value to the New European Bauhaus

Europa Nostra, the premier heritage organization in Europe, announced this year’s edition of its European Cultural Heritage Summit. The prestigious event will take place 21-24 September at the Giorgio Cini Foundation on the isle of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.

The organizers, mindful of the dynamic sanitary context, have decided to hold a hybrid event – meaning that there will be events taking place in Venice and online. The Summit will gather the veritable ‘who’s who’ of the wider heritage community from across Europe and beyond, including civil society organisations; local, regional, national and European authorities; international organisations; policy-makers at all levels; young heritage professionals, students as well as heritage volunteers and enthusiasts.

Why Venice?

The choice of Venice was no random event, either. This year has been an important one for the Lagoon City. It is celebrating its 1600^th birthday and, recently, the Italian government decided to ban the entrance of large cruise ships in its historical core.

The opening day of the event will feature the ringing of the bells in the entire city, and throughout Europe. Reportedly, this initiative aims to mark not only the start of the Summit but also the UN International Day of Peace.

Some highlights to watch out for

For anyone who is remotely interested in the world of heritage, this is the event to watch. Attending in person will be upon personal invitation only, however, online events will be freely available to everyone. The registration period for these will open in early September.

At the end of May, we informed you about the winners of the European Heritage Awards/ Europa Nostra Awards 2021. On 23 September these projects will send representatives to receive the prizes at the special European Heritage Awards Ceremony, co-hosted by the European Commission.

We, at TheMayor.EU, are also especially delighted to report that Europa Nostra will dedicate the last day of the event (24 September) to the New European Bauhaus initiative, creating a bridge from the idea of heritage as something firmly grounded in the past to a mindset that lets us realize that the creation of heritage is an ever-ongoing process.

The event that day will take the form of a two-part Agora (from the Ancient Greek communal meeting place) called ‘From the New European Bauhaus to the New European Renaissance’.

After all, it depends on us today to decided what kind of urban environments we will leave to future generations. What the NEB movement ends up producing as a benefit to contemporary life has the potential to be appreciated and studied by those that come after us.

Finally, here is also a small reminder that Venetian authorities themselves are keen on looking both to the past and the future. In our humble opinion, this year’s Summit host city could not have been more spot-on.