Millions of people visited monuments during 2008 European Heritage Days supported by the EU

The European Heritage Days conjointly supported by the Council of Europe and the European Commission have become a solid tradition.

At this occasion the Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Ján Figel'together with Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Director General Director General Education, Culture and Heritage, Youth and Sport in the Council of Europe held a press conference on the 25 September with the aim to draw the attention to the European dimension of the days and to present case studies on how heritage can contribute in a practical way to life in multicultural societies.

The press conference was also attended by the Director of the King Baudouin Foundation, Mr Guido Knops, who linked the 20th Anniversary of the European Heritage Days in Belgium with the first European Heritage Forum on "Heritage and Dialogue" to take place in Brussels on 23-24 October 2008.  Three case studies presented by speakers from Estonia, France and the United Kingdom:  Mr. Henry Kuningas from the Cultural Heritage Department of the city of Tallinn in Estonia highlighted that the regenerative use of industrial cultural heritage in Europe can help increase cities' potential to attract new small and medium sized companies, can turn them into more attractive places to live and can contribute to their economic development and citizen’s welfare;

Mr. Serge Grappin, Educational Adviser in the House of Heritage (Maison du Patrimoine), Saint Romain, France presented an example of how cultural heritage can be used to help rehabilitate young offenders by offering them a chance to break with their usual environment, immerse themselves in sites which are steeped in history and help them unleash emotion and curiosity;

Ms Judy Ling Wong CBE, FRSA, Director of the Black Environment Network in the United Kingdom presented a project with a particular focus on the variety of cultures in society, aiming at including people from various cultural backgrounds and showing how cultures are interlinked.

For more information please see: Background The Council of Europe officially instituted the "European Heritage Days" (EHD)</a> in 1991, with the support of the European Union. Since then the Council has assigned responsibility for the practical aspects of organising the European Heritage Days to a co-ordination office appointed for a set period: the Stichting Open Monumentendag (the Netherlands) from 1991 to 1994, the King Baudouin Foundation (Belgium) from 1994 to 2000, the Centro Nacional de Cultura (Portugal) for 2001-2006 and now Europa Nostra. Since 1999 the EHD have been run as a joint initiative with the European Union, who linked the 20th Anniversary of the European Heritage Days in Belgium with the first European Heritage Forum on "Heritage and Dialogue" to take place in Brussels on 23-24 October 2008. Background : The Council of Europe officially instituted the "European Heritage Days" (EHD) in 1991, with the support of the European Union. Since then the Council has assigned responsibility for the practical aspects of organising the European Heritage Days to a co-ordination office appointed for a set period: the Stichting Open Monumentendag (the Netherlands) from 1991 to 1994, the King Baudouin Foundation (Belgium) from 1994 to 2000, the Centro Nacional de Cultura (Portugal) for 2001-2006 and now Europa Nostra. Since 1999 the EHD have been run as a joint initiative with the European Union, who linked the 20th Anniversary of the European Heritage Days in Belgium with the first European Heritage Forum on "Heritage and Dialogue" to take place in Brussels on 23-24 October 2008. Three case studies presented by speakers from Estonia, France and the United Kingdom.

Three case studies presented by speakers from Estonia, France and the United Kingdom.