The European Week of Regions and Cities (#EURegionsWeek) is the biggest annual Brussels-based event dedicated to cohesion policy. It has grown to become a unique communication and networking platform, bringing together regions and cities from all over Europe, including politicians, administrators, experts and academics. Over the last 18 years, it has done much to promote policy learning and the exchange of good practice.  

Under the heading "Together for recovery", this year programme is focused on the capacity of the EU and of national and regional governments to support European citizens and their local communities with practical measures and public policies aimed at investing in a fairer, greener and more digital future for recovery. In this respect, the new cohesion policy and new generation of EU programmes for 2021-2027, as well as the EU's financial instruments for tackling the COVID-19 crisis, will be centre stage in the 2021 event.

During the workshop “Cultural heritage, cohesion policies and wellbeing: a virtuous circle”, (13th of October, 11.30-13.00 CET) the ISTER project will be presented as a real example of the contribution of cultural heritage to public welfare and local development due to EU cohesion policy.

The session will address the challenge of aligning policies across European cultural heritage territories based on a shared vision and the common use of resources, in order to contribute to territorial development and to foster societal well-being. It will highlight the need to promote cultural heritage values as catalysts for societal well-being, as well as to open up an opportunity for territorial competitiveness and sustainable growth in EU territories.

The session will also focus on the contribution of EU funds to unlocking the potential of cultural heritage for territorial development and in ensuring the sustainability of the results of related projects after their implementation.

The guiding questions are:

• What role does cultural heritage play in framing societal well-being, sustainable growth and territorial competitiveness?
• How can EU cohesion policy and other policies enhance the potential of cultural heritage in the above-mentioned fields?
• What evidence do we have of the contribution of cultural heritage in these areas?
• How can cultural heritage stakeholders be mobilised to maximise such contributions?

In order to provide answers to these questions, the workshop proposes an interdisciplinary dialogue between heritage experts, public institutions and civil society stakeholders. This session will reveal multiple perspectives regarding finding the right balance between heritage preservation and future-oriented development needs, while taking into account societal well-being. It will enable knowledge transfer, and the dissemination of successful cases and results of heritage-related projects, as well as exploring tools for the capacity building of different types of stakeholders from European cities and regions.

REGISTER FOR THE WORKSHOP HERE