On 2 February, the Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe project held its 5th Steering Committee meeting in Leuven, Belgium. Europa Nostra, the project leader, chaired the meeting. 14 representatives from the project’s six partners were in attendance.

The project is moving closer to the delivery of its main output – a report on the multiple benefits of cultural heritage in Europe. This meeting in Leuven was a valuable moment to discuss the key findings gathered by project partners the International Cultural Centre (ICC) in Poland and the Raymond Lemaire International Center for ConservatioCHCFE_Leuven_SC_Feb_2015n (RLICC) in Belgium. The report uses a cultural heritage impact matrix to present in detail the potential of cultural heritage and its intersecting influences across all aspects of society: cultural, social, economic, and environmental. At the intersection or heart of the matrix is sustainable development. To accompany the report, the Steering Committee will produce a summary along with recommendations.

The results of these two years of gathering and analysing existing data and evidence on the impact of cultural heritage in Europe will be presented at the project’s final conference on 12 June 2015 in Oslo, Norway, held in the  framework of the Europa Nostra Congress.

The time in Leuven was also used to discuss the project’s sustainability after it concludes in June 2015. It is clear the work done by the project to collect this evidence has great value to ensure the preservation of knowledge. Gathering evidence, often quite dispersed across the European continent, makes it more likely important research will not be overlooked. SC members spoke about possibilities to continue the collection of existing data, evidence, literature, discourse and policy review, and case studies to further understand the impact of Europe’s cultural heritage and raise awareness in order to demonstrate its value.

CHCFE_Leuven_SC_Presentations_Feb_2015

Project partners from Poland and Belgium present findings from the CHCFE report.