What are the secrets of Europe’s historic buildings? Who do we build monuments for? Is there a connection between a court painter and a selfie? How is cultural heritage preserved and explored in the digital age?

These are some of the key questions that one of the oldest cultural competitions in Europe will aim to answer in 2018, when the entire continent will celebrate European Year of Cultural Heritage. Started in Germany in 1953, The European Competition successfully promotes diversity, cultural participation and heritage discovery among pupils and students in Germany, who are tasked with a new creative challenge every year.  

In 2018, the competition will reflect the ideas behind the European Year of Cultural Heritage, encouraging thousands of participants to explore shared European values. With the moto United in Diversity, this year’s edition focuses on the intrinsic bonds between Europeans, whose histories are embodied in various buildings, monuments, traditions and even lifestyles.

Some of the topics that will be highlighted include history and architecture, culture and digitisation, building of a European city, preserving traditional crafts, as well as finding relationships between some historic and modern practices.

Classified into different modules according to participants’ age, the tasks will look for the most creative approaches to the given theme. In addition to this, there is a special task for all age groups with the theme Friendship in the Competition and which aims to encourage finding shared values in European Championships.

All submissions will be reviewed by expert jury and the most inspiring works will be awarded with symbolic prizes. The call for submissions is open until mid-February or early March, depending on the region. For all the details about the deadlines and designated contact persons, visit this page.