Frequently Asked Questions

The winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards are considered best practice examples in the field of cultural heritage. They are promoted by Europa Nostra, the European Commission and other partners as such, at conferences and in expert publications etc., which are in turn widely disseminated in the field.

The winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards join a network of over 500 winners awarded since 2002. This means that winning an Award gives access to a wide network of heritage professionals and experts across Europe. As a result, winners often enjoy improved access to networking and other professional opportunities. Many winners have also reported that the Award has helped secure funding for future and ongoing activities.

Each winner receives a bronze plaque, which should be installed or displayed in a visible location linked to the winning entry, and an Award certificate.

The Grand Prix winners, chosen from among the winners by the Board of Europa Nostra on recommendation by an independent jury of experts, each receive a monetary prize of €10,000.

The winners of the Public Choice Award, chosen via an online poll, also receive a monetary prize of €10,000 and a trophy.

The winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards also benefit from free membership of Europa Nostra for one year, allowing access to Europa Nostra’s broad network of heritage professionals.

Entries to the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards and the Europa Nostra Awards apply through the same entry procedure and are evaluated together through the same process. However, only winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards coming from countries participating in the Creative Europe programme are also eligible to win one of 5 Grand Prix and/or the Public Choice Award, each with a monetary award of €10,000.

Entries for the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards may be submitted by all countries that are signatories of the Creative Europe programme, i.e. the 27 EU Member States, the 3 EEA-countries Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland and other third countries that have signed an Association Agreement with the EU (see list in the reply to question 5). Entries submitted by countries that are members of the Council of Europe but are not among the signatories of the Creative Europe Programme are eligible for the Europa Nostra Awards (see list in the reply to question 5).

The Public Choice Award is given to the winner with the most votes, following an online, public poll hosted on the Europa Nostra website. The online voting will open on the day of the announcement of the winners. The winner of the Public Choice Award will also receive a monetary award of €10,000 and a bronze trophy.

Only winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards that are submitted from countries participating in the Cultural Strand of the Creative Europe Programme, i.e. the EU Member States, the three EFTA-countries Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland and other acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates to the EU are eligible for the Public Choice Award.

All applications must be submitted via the online application platform: european-heritage.awardsplatform.com. Europa Nostra will not accept any applications or supplementary material by email or post.

Please visit european-heritage.awardsplatform.com, create a secure account and follow the instructions.

To help prepare your answers before submitting, once you have selected your category of entry, you can download a reference document with all of the questions that you will be asked.

This will help you to make sure you don’t omit any important information and it will also allow you to work collaboratively with colleagues or any other partners in the project.

– Entries for the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards, co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme, may only be submitted from countries participating in the Culture strand of the Creative Europe Programme , i.e. the EU Member States, the three EFTA-countries Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland and other acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates to the EU. The following countries are:

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo , Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Ukraine.

Nominated legal entities must be citizens or legal residents in at least one of the Creative Europe participating countries.

– Entries submitted from countries that are members of the Council of Europe but are not participating in the Culture strand of the Creative Europe Programme are only eligible for the Europa Nostra Awards. The following are those countries which are eligible for the Awards on the preceding basis: Andorra, Azerbaijan, Holy See, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Carefully read the descriptions and eligibility requirements for each of the categories here.

You can also read the questions for each of the categories by going to the online awards platform: european-heritage.awardsplatform.com Once you have registered and once you select the category of entry, you will see a link to download an overview of the questions.

In case you are still confused about which category best suits your project, you can email awards@europanostra.org with a brief description of your initiative and the staff of Europa Nostra will do their best to help you decide.

Yes, public authorities can submit an application provided they are entitled to represent the initiative or as long as they have included the consent from the owner of the heritage site or collection in the submission (for category Conservation & Adaptive Reuse), from the author or owner of the study or project (for categories Research, Education, Training & Skills, and Citizens’ Engagement & Awareness-raising), or from the nominee (for category Heritage Champions).

There is no fee for submitting a project to the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards.

In the online application system, you will be able to upload photographs and other additional material. For all categories, you will be able to upload a maximum of 30 photos. You can list links to videos that may be hosted on a video site such as YouTube or Vimeo.

Regarding the photos you submit:

– Upload JPEG or PNG files.

– Maximum file size is 5MB per piece.

– For Conservation and Adaptive Reuse projects, it is mandatory to include ’before’ and ’after’ photographs, taken from the same viewpoint and positioned side by side. Ensure that the context, surroundings, and key details are clearly visible in both images to provide a comprehensive comparison.

– For nominations to Heritage Champions, include 5 recent, good quality photos of the nominee (person or group) and up to 25 good quality photos of the related heritage work and achievements/activities.

– The photos should only be uploaded as single files – no collages.

– For all applications concerning projects/initiatives, try to include photos of the works/activities in progress wherever possible.

– Upload a text file (.doc, .docx, .odt) with clear captions for each of the photos and how the photo should be credited. Give the files a short name that indicates the content of the photograph (please avoid long file names).

Important note: In case your entry is selected to receive an Award, you will be asked to sign an agreement with Europa Nostra and the European Commission to allow for the non-commercial use of photos of the winning entry. The photos will only ever be used in the context of promoting the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards and the winners of the Awards.

You will be able to upload a limited amount of additional material with your entry.

Do not send any additional material by email or post as we cannot guarantee that it will be included in your dossier for evaluation.

For all categories of entry, you must download, sign and upload a form, wherein the owner/author/nominee authorises the entry of the project/initiative/nomination to the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards. 

For categories Conservation & Adaptive Reuse and Research, the author is asked to grant permission to Europa Nostra and the European Commission to reproduce (as relevant to your project) information about and the image of the work/building for non-commercial use. All rights remain with the author and we will only ever reproduce the image of the work/building or information about your project in case you are a winner of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards and only ever in relation to the Awards or in promoting your Award in particular.

You must complete these forms for your entry to be considered by the Selection Committees and the Heritage Awards Jury.

In case the entry is selected to receive an Award, all photographers of all of the photographs are requested to grant permission to Europa Nostra and the European Commission to reproduce their work without limitation but always with reference to the photographer. All rights remain with the photographer and we will only ever reproduce the photographs of your project in case you are a winner of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards and only ever in relation to the Awards or in promoting your Award in particular.

In case you have any questions or doubts, you can contact the Awards department at awards@europanostra.org.

– First, make sure that you received the automatic confirmation of receipt of your entry. Check your spam folder in case you have not received it. 
– Next, the staff of Europa Nostra will read your application and make sure that your entry meets the eligibility requirements. The entrant of the submission will receive confirmation that the application meets the requirements and in case it does not, they will be informed by email.
– Once your project meets all of the eligibility requirements, your entry will proceed to be examined by the Selection Committees (one for each category). They will make a selection of entries from among all of the categories to proceed to the next round.
– Entries that have been shortlisted by the Selection Committees will next be assessed by local experts who may visit the site/project or interview the entrant or another key person related to the entry. They will provide a written report to the Heritage Awards Jury. The assessment reports are confidential and will not be shared with the entrant/nominator.
– Entries that have been shortlisted by the Selection Committees will next proceed to evaluation by the Heritage Awards Jury. The Heritage Awards Jury will select up to 30 winners of the Awards and they will shortlist up to 15 Grand Prix candidates.
– After the meeting of the Heritage Awards Jury, you will be informed of whether or not your entry has been selected to win an Award. This information will remain confidential and under embargo until the official announcement of the winners.
– The Board will make the final selection of the Grand Prix winners, which will be announced only during the European Heritage Awards Ceremony in Autumn 2025, along with the winner of the Public Choice Award.

 The application platform allows you to make changes up until the deadline of 20 November. Simply log in to make the required changes and click submit. 

Please note that you must not email or post any changes or additional material/information to Europa Nostra.

All winners from 2002 to 2024 are featured on the official website of the awards. A text about the project, video material and photographs can be accessed. The filter function helps users to sort the winners by country, category, year and type of award.
The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards archives are stored at the Danube University Krems in Krems an der Donau, Austria. Users can browse the winners via the web portal of the archive.

By signing up to Europa Nostra’s newsletter, you can keep up to date with all the latest developments related to the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards. Sign up for the newsletter here.

The European Heritage Awards Ceremony 2025 will take place in Brussels. The date and location will be communicated at a later stage.

Reference letters are only required for applications in category Heritage Champions.

In case the nominee is an organisation, the letters should not be written from someone in the same organisation. The referee should be able to comment on the scope and impact of the nominee’s work in the relevant context.

In the past, people with positions at professional institutions, academics, public representatives and community members have acted as referees for the nominations entered to the Awards.