Civil Society and Heritage 2010

The initiative for this conference has been taken by an existing cooperation network of three Belgian heritage NGOs. This joint action is based on a shared belief in the importance of active citizenship for enhancing democratic values in society, a shared belief in the importance of the role of heritage organisations with regard to local and European policy and a shared commitment to propagating a broader concept of heritage.

In 2005 the three NGOs joined forces to consider the roles, responsibilities, needs and opportunities of heritage organisations in the European context. This resulted in a research project and a survey, which revealed that the information on heritage organisations and non-governmental organisations in Europe is very fragmented, while their diversity, when viewed from the broader concept of heritage, is greater than ever. Using information and communication technology a broad network of heritage organisations was set up: the Inventory of Heritage Organisations in Europe.

Inspired by the results of the ‘First European Conference on the Role of Voluntary Organisations in the Field of Cultural Heritage’ (Oslo, 2000), the partners felt the need for a new European conference that will strengthen the civil society movement in the field of heritage. The reciprocal relation between active citizenship and commitment to heritage seemed to be an excellent starting point.

Objectives of the conference
- to bring civil society organisations together from the broad field of heritage in Europe as a best practice of active citizenship in Europe
- to represent the power, the enthusiasm and the necessity of bottom up civil society action in Europe, on a public forum
- by doing so, to consolidate, to value and to support the role civil society organisations active in the field of heritage play in 21st century Europe
- by interactive exchange, to improve the output of the work done by heritage NGOs
- to introduce the ideas underlying but also yielded by the Faro Convention which is based on a respectful interaction between different heritage communities in Europe

At the conference 135 international participants and 45 local participants will represent the diversity of the European civil society for heritage: local, regional, national and European voluntary organisations, civil society organisations, umbrella organisations, network organisations, foundations, etc.) that are active in the broad field of (tangible and/or intangible) heritage.