On 4 June 2018, European Alliance Group in the European Committee of the Regions held an extraordinary meeting and a seminar "Promoting cultural and linguistic heritage of Europe."
Opening the event, EA Group President Karl Vanlouwe said that he was "particularly glad that this seminar is organised during the European Year of Cultural Heritage, a year particularly rich in events, debates and reflections on how we can strengthen the preservation and promotion of our local, regional and national identities which all together make part of a bigger, European identity."
Ms Barbara Gressler, Head of Unit "Culture and Creativity" in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC), briefly presented some of the main activities taking place during the European Year of Cultural Heritage but also gave a short overview of the European Commission's new initiatives, such as the New European Agenda for Culture and the new proposal on the Creative Europe programme.
Count Rodolphe de Looz-Corswarem, President of the European Historic Houses Association, board member of Europa Nostra and a member of the Stakeholder Committee advising the European Commission on the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, presented Heritage Alliance 3.3, an informal platform of 48 European and international networks active in the field of cultural heritage and announced the forthcoming European Cultural Heritage Summit which will take place from 18-24 June 2018 in Berlin, Germany.
Dr Gianfranco Zidda, Scientific manager of the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage of the Autonomous Region Valle D'Aosta presented the megalytic area of Aosta and the efforts in research and promotion of the site.
Mr Roel Daenen from the Flemish interface centre for cultural heritage (FARO) presented the activities of his organization with a special focus on the yearly Heritage Day (Erfgoeddag), one of the biggest heritage-related events in Flanders when heritage institutions and activities can be visited free of charge.
Mr Mikel Irujo Amezaga, Delegate of the Government of Navarre in Brussels talked about lesser-used, minority and regional languages in Europe, which are currently spoken by over 50 million people across the continent. He particularly focused on cultural heritage and promotion of the Basque language in the territories of Navarre and the Basque Country.
Cllr Kieran McCarthy, member of Cork City Council and EA Group's coordinator for the Committee of the Regions' Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC), elaborated on the role of the regions in the promotion of cultural heritage, especially community-led cultural management and the role of local and regional authorities as repositories of public memory.
Concluding the debate, Mr Vanlouwe stressed that it is of fundamental importance that the European Year of Cultural Heritage is not a one-off exercise but that indeed it will have a proper follow-up and mark the start of a long-term change in the approach towards our cultural heritage.
Finally, EA Group members pledged to continue insisting on a multi-layered character of Europe's cultural heritage and fighting for the protection and promotion of Europe's lesser-used, regional and historical languages and other aspects of Europe's cultural heritage which are endangered by demographic changes and economic globalization.
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