The year 2018 will be a stellar year for Europe’s cultural heritage! In only several months, pan-European celebrations of European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 will start with a series of programmes cantered around the themes of shared European traditions, history and culture.

In its effort to contribute to the initiative, Germany will showcase remarkable heritage-related projects, particularly through a dedicated online platform Sharing Heritage. Launched on July 20, the platform aims to discuss the most relevant topics in the field of heritage and help raise awareness about the ideas that European Year of Cultural Heritage promotes. The projects will cover five specific themes to highlight the values heritage has for Europe today:

1. Europe: Exchange and Movement. This theme will address cross-border exchange of knowledge that historically has been taking place in Europe. It will focus on exploring European “routes, paths and axis” by examining archaeological evidence and architectural gems that witness the evolution of European connections.
    
2. Europe: Border and Encounter Regions. European cross-cultural connections can be found in a variety of areas, landscapes and even objects that speak about intercultural dialogues or physical and symbolic borders between European regions. This theme will explore the nature of our cultural connections, their richness and their roles in shaping European Identity.
    
3. The European City. With the anatomy of a 21st century European city rapidly changing, the need to develop greater appreciation and understanding of our past becomes more important. The role of cultural heritage in this change has a great importance and it will be an important focus of Shared Heritage projects.
    
4. Europe: Remembrance and New Starts. Focusing on historical conflicts in Europe on one hand, and times of peaceful co-existence on the other, this theme aims to discuss the nature of connections that emerged from the diversity of our shared experiences.
    
5. Europe: Practiced Heritage. Following the goal of the initiative to develop perceptions of heritage “not as something remote or out of touch with reality, but as something that belongs to all of us,” this theme will look at practical examples of heritage protection, preservation and enhancement.
    

Coordinated by the office of the German Cultural Heritage Committee (DNK), European Year of Cultural Heritage in Germany will discuss the current state of cultural heritage and help raise awareness of shared European values.

DNK also invites everyone to get involved in the initiative and increase its visibility by submitting their projects for a publication on the platform. All projects that discuss one of the key themes or can contribute to European-wide knowledge exchange on these topics are welcome. More information on the criteria for participation as well as instructions for project submissions can be found here.