World Heritage Day 18 April: celebrating heritage

Around the globe people are celebrating World Heritage Day today. The EEA Grants support cultural heritage programmes in fourteen beneficiary countries which aim at conserving and revitalising cultural and natural heritage and improving public accessibility.

Wooden housing in Kuldiga old town, Kuldiga, Latvia (Photo credit: Europanostra)

World Heritage Day offers us an extra opportunity to think about what cultural heritage means in our daily life and also to reflect on what we can do to safeguard and conserve the diverse heritage surrounding us for future generations.

Award to Kuldiga-project in Latvia initiated with EEA funding

In Latvia, the Kuldiga Restoration Centre was established as part of an EEA Grants project (2004-2009 funding period) on preservation of wooden heritage. The Centre has now been awarded with the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Award for its remarkable work in education, training and awareness-raising. Watch video and read more here.

Social and economic benefits

Good heritage care not only gives our heritage a new lease of life, it also offers opportunities for economic growth and increased employment and also for our better understanding of the rich diversity of our cultural heritage.

Promote cultural diversity

International cooperation and knowledge sharing in this area are essential if we want to look after our European heritage in the best possible way. To stimulate this Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have allotted nearly €200 million of the EEA Grants available in the period 2009-2014 to specifically target the conservation and protection of cultural and natural heritage and to promote cultural diversity in culture and arts and international cooperation in beneficiary countries in Central and Southern Europe.

You can find out more about the EEA Grants for cultural and natural heritage and cultural diversity and the calls for proposals here.   

Enjoy World Heritage Day!