The most important aspect of heritage has always been related to the people creating, living, sharing and protecting it. For centuries, cultural heritage has bridged the gaps between generations and nations all over Europe. In order to honour the communities and individuals that kept the heritage alive and available for many generations to explore, European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 celebrations launched initiative that is continuing to inspire creation of European Heritage Stories edition for the 2019.

As part of the joint programme of the Council of Europe and European Comission, European Heritage Days, the Call for European Heritage Stories is launched  on 18 March and the application form will be open until 18 April 2019. What started as a successful pilot initiative in 2018 honouring the  European Year of Cultural Heritage, has been developed into an yearly event.

Story themes and project objectives

Informative and creative stories that highlight the common values, and promote diversity and the European Dimension of heritage sites, will be shared with the European audience on EHDs portal. In addition, up to ten of the most inspiring stories will be given a grant of € 10,000 to develop a project further and restore and promote their heritage site. Genuine, real life narratives of people behind the European Heritage Days, and their passionate work and dedication to the common heritage has inspired the creators of the initiative to support, reward and further develop heritage activism, and a sense of belonging to the European common space among all European citizens.

"How things have changed in our villages – a local history film workshop for children" - One of the ten 2018 grantees  

The #EHDs initiative is encouraging project proposals and stories by:

  • EHD communities from the 50 participating European countries;
  • EU Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Award Winners;
  • European Heritage Label sites

International Day for Monuments and Sites, 18 April, symbolically marks the deadline for submissions. All heritage stories submitted up to this date, that meet the criteria proposed, will be published and promoted as the European Heritage Stories. As a result, up to 25 most compelling stories wil be pre-selected to be considered for the grant. Announcement of the final selection of ten grantees for 2019 will follow in August. 

Selection Timeline

18 March 2019: Launching of the Call

18 April 2019: Deadline for submissions

23 April – 18 May 2019: Pre-selection of the Stories eligible to receive a grant

21 May 2019: Second stage of the grant procedures. The pre-selected stories will be asked to provide a more detailed budget projection and project proposal.

21 June 2019: The final deadline to deliver the necessary documentation

31 July 2019: Final selection of project proposals

21 August 2019: Notification of selection

September 2019: Start of the project activities

October 2019: Award ceremony for the grant recipients

January 2020: Monitoring stage. The grant recipients work with the Council of Europe to deliver financial and progress reports

30 March 2020: End of the implementation stage

30 April 2020: Reporting and evaluation. The recipients submit the final narrative and financial report for the justification of the grant

Building on the success of the European Heritage Stories 2018, the initiative has established itself as one of the most significant projects oriented towards celebrating cultural heritage of Europe. European Heritage Stories initiative allows everyone with an inspiring story about the European dimension of the local heritage to keep their narrative alive, and possibly develop it into a specific project.

Deatailed terms and Conditions of the Call for European Heritage Stories can be downloaded here. For more information, visit this page.