Europa Nostra, Europe’s leading NGO for the safeguarding of cultural heritage, is to open a branch of its network – the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub – in Kraków (Poland), the first European city on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as the first outpost of this pan-European federation.

The role of the future Heritage Hub is to develop and strengthen the activities of the federation in the Eastern part of Europe, to involve civil society organisations in the protection of Europe’s heritage, as well as to strengthen the role of Kraków as a leading European centre creating and implementing best practices in the area of heritage preservation and in the implementation of the UNESCO Convention.

Europa Nostra representatives emphasised that the Hub that is being built in Kraków will play a key role in supporting the protection of Europe’s cultural heritage in Ukraine – both during the war and during the future reconstruction of the country.

Europa Nostra has its headquarters in The Hague while its European Liaison Office is based in Brussels and it recently announced the creation of a second branch of the Heritage Hub covering the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean region to be launched in Athens.

This is part of Europa Nostra’s Strategic Plan: Horizon 2025, which defines the key role of cities and sets the direction for regional leaders in Europe’s heritage hubs as a catalyst for positive change based on sustainable development, social cohesion and climate action. In line with this ambition,

The Institute and Europa Nostra are partners notably in safeguarding cultural heritage under the 7 Most Endangered initiative.