The enthusiasm with which young Europeans approach cultural heritage matters has been demonstrated through a number of initiatives within European Year of Cultural Heritage. Most recently, secondary school students from over 30 European countries had an opportunity to discuss these topics at the ninth annual Your Europe, Your Say! event.

Inspired by the ideas behind European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, this year’s theme was United in diversity: a younger future for European culture – Can European Youth Take European Culture to Heart?”

Dedicated to the young and designed to encourage their involvement in cultural matters, Your Europe, Your Say! poses a new challenge for young Europeans every year. In 2018, 99 students and 34 teachers from all across Europe were gathered in Brussels to present their views on Europe’s cultural and historic treasures.

Taking place on 15th and 16th March, the event invited participants to share their ideas and experiences with like-minded young people from different countries. They could learn more about cultural heritage sites and objects in other countries and get inspired by their peer’s stories and opinions. More importantly, they had an opportunity to make a difference for Europe’s heritage by creating proposals for international projects.

The best ideas were recognised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), which acts as an EU advisory body and helps make the voices of the young heard. Every year, EESC empowers the European youth to make an impact on social, cultural, and political matters. This year, it not only enabled them to get actively involved in European Year of Cultural Heritage, but also to get inspired by the renowned culture and heritage experts.

Winning Ideas

At the opening ceremony, various professionals from the field of culture and heritage shared their thoughts on the significance of cultural heritage for Europe. Among the speakers, Europa Nostra Secretary-General Sneška Quaedvlieg Mihailović reminded the participants of the European context of the event, noting that “Europe is everywhere in the hearts of all of us.” She further emphasized the importance of heritage:

“We cannot build Europe if we do not give our culture and our cultural heritage a more central place. For too long Europe has been built mostly through economy, finance and market. These are extremely important tools for bringing economies and societies together. But what is the heart and soul of Europe? It is culture and cultural heritage.”

This was one of the most resounding definitions of the value of cultural heritage that inspired participants for incredible new ideas. The students were tasked with coming up with creative projects that could help enhance and promote Europe’s cultural heritage. Out of the exciting projects presented, the winning ones are the following:

  1. A proposal of the study exchange programme that would provide the opportunity for the yount to explore other cultures through travelling;
  2. A recommendation to create the European Union House of Cuisine in multiple European countries to help discover and preserve past traditions by learning more about a specific dish; 
  3. A proposal for the creation of travelling theme festivals and avoiding concentrations of museums in big cities to bring culture and cultural heritage closer to all.

The initiatives like YEYS give voice to the young people and empower them to enrich European cultural landscape. The key theme of this year’s event particularly expanded the efforts to bring heritage closer to the young people and encourage them to get actively involved in it.

Photo credits:eesc.europa.eu