Heritage unites, inspires and gives us a feeling of identity. In a world with more and more people looking for a new place to feel at home, it offers an opportunity to involve people. To tell them about traditions, to surprise them, impress them, and… to make them feel at home.
Karel Loeff, director of Heemschut welcomes our readers to this new European heritage project. Heemschut is the largest Dutch private heritage association and partner of the European Heritage Times.
Europe has a wide diversity of heritage. However, though we are living in separate countries, we have a long and at least partly shared history. This history influenced our cities and landscapes, and our culture. Globalisation makes that a lot of people feel that this is under threat. In the European Year of Cultural Heritage countries and private organizations exchanged knowledge, ideas and experiences on heritage.
We discovered that we have a lot in common, but there are also a lot of differences. Not only in the fields of participation, restauration, rezoning, financing, protection and use. The wide range of heritage stretches from hidden abandoned places and countryside’s to overcrowded historical inner cities all over Europe. And as distance is increasingly easy to overcome, all the different languages in the EU are still a problem to deal with.
The new digital initiative of the European Heritage Tribune tries to cross borders, though without the burden of heavy costs and time. It gives us insight in actualities and news from different countries, in different regions, from different people. It is collected from you, as you are working in a niche area, however with a wide range of heritage. The editors are eager to hear from you, so they can share your passion. Because heritage keeps us on the move, and sharing our history is a basis for the future.