Jury & Selection Committee

Yonca ERKAN is a professor of Built Heritage at University of Antwerp since 2022. She is the UNESCO Chair on the Management and Promotion of World Heritage Sites: New Media and Community Involvement (since 2015) at the Kadir Has University, Istanbul. In 2018, she worked as senior consultant at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, as the HUL/World Heritage Cities Programme Coordinator. Currently, she is coordinating the EU research project within the Horizon2020 Marie-Sklodowska Curie – RISE Program titled “Sustainable Management of Industrial Heritage as a Resource for Urban Development” (2021-2025). Yonca Erkan also coordinates a funded project titled “In the context of urban-rural continuity, Web-GIS based Integrated Site Management Model for historic cities: The Case of İznik” (2021-2024). She received her PhD Degree in Architectural Conservation from Istanbul Technical University (2007), Master of Science Degree in Architecture Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1998), Master in Architectural Conservation, Yıldız Technical University (1996) where she also got her Bachelors Degree (1993).

Klimis Aslanidis studied architecture at the National Technical University of Athens (1998) and specialised in architectural conservation, obtaining the title of MA in Conservation Studies at the University of York (2000). His PhD thesis, submitted at the University of Patras and published by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, examines the evolution of Byzantine architecture on the island of Naxos. He has participated in the design and supervision of numerous conservation projects for ancient, medieval and modern monuments in Greece, including churches, among which are the Athens Cathedral, monasteries, castles and houses. He has also worked for several years at the conservation
works of the Greek Ministry of Culture on the southern slope of the Acropolis, where he was mainly responsible for the restoration of the auditorium of the ancient theatre of Dionysos. He is currently Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture of the Technical University of Crete. His research and teaching focuses on architectural design and the conservation of historic buildings and sites. As a member of the Laboratory for the Documentation and Conservation of Historic Buildings and Sites, he participates in conservation projects throughout Greece and he is co-editor of the periodical “Notebooks of Architectural Conservation”. Klimis Aslanidis is a member of the Council for Architectural Heritage of Elliniki Etairia, the country representation of Europa Nostra in Greece.

Eugen Vaida is an architect at Asociatia Monumentum, which has been a member organisation of Europa Nostra since 2019. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Architecture and Urban Planning „Ion Mincu”, in Bucharest. Among his many projects, Eugen coordinated the Daia Heritage Valorization Plan, developed by the Global Heritage Fund in 2017-2018, and is currently coordinating The Ambulance for Monuments project, which won an Award and the Public Choice Award at the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2020. He had a defining role in the development of the summer school movement in Romania which has its key
mission in educating young architects and students. He is a Member of the Advisory Group for the European Commission on heritage policies, the Founding member and president of The Federation for Transylvanian Heritage and advisor for the Romanian Ministry for Culture and National Identity. Eugen Vaida published numerous literary works on cultural heritage, including “Saving the culture of the other” (Alţîna, 2021) and “The Architectural Guidebook For Contextual Planning in the Saxon Area” of the Order of Romanian Architects (RURAL Working Group). Eugen Vaida became an Ashoka Fellow in November 2021, benefitting from a lifetime bursary to continue his work in the field of heritage from the world’s leading social entrepreneurship organisation. For it’s dedicated efforts in the education of the public of all generation, Asociatia Monumentum, lead by Eugen Vaida, was knighted by The Romanian Presidency in 2021.

Koenraad Van Balen graduated as Engineer-Architect at the KU Leuven (Belgium) in 1979; post-graduate degree in architectural conservation in 1984 and a Ph.D in Engineering in 1991 at the KU Leuven.
Since October 2022 he is an emeritus professor at the KU Leuven, the Civil Engineering department and he is the former acting director of the Raymond Lemaire International Center for Conservation (RLICC) at the University of Leuven, holder of the PRECOM3OS UNESCO chair since 2008-2024. He was member of the research Council of KU Leuven from 2016-2020. He is one of the initiators of HERKUL: the KU Leuven Institute for Cultural heritage.
Through HERKUL and the collaboration within the Una Europa alliance – of which KU Leuven is part – he is strongly involved in the activities of the European Institute of Technology (EIT) Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) Culture and Creativity and in the European Heritage Hub.
Koen Van Balen was recently be appointed as member of the panel for the European Heritage Label by the European Commission. He is also a member of the Council of Europa Nostra.
He has many publications and managed different research projects dealing with heritage preservation, ancient and new sustainable construction materials. He was member of the Scientific Committee of the European-wide research coordination initiative “Joint Program Initiative: Cultural Heritage (JPI-CH)”. Relevant projects and publications are
• the ILUCIDARE project dealing with Cultural Heritage Led innovation and international relations (2018-2022) providing a wealth of educational material on Cultural Heritage led innovation and cultural heritage led international relations: https://ilucidare.eu/resources/database/ilucidare-inspiration-kit;
• Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe project and report (2015) introducing the “upstream approach”.

Antonio Lamas is Professor Emeritus (retired) of Structural Engineering and Built Heritage at the Instituto Superior Técnico – University of Lisbon, having held that position since 1985. He is Vice-president of the General Assembly (GA) of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering and a Member of the Ordem dos Engenheiros (Institute of Engineers). Antonio Lamas is President of the Jury of the annual Gulbenkian Heritage Prize – Tereza e Vasco Vilalva and a Member of the Advisory Council of “Festival Terras Sem Sombra”. He is also President of the GA of the Cultural Association “Estudos Gerals do Alvito” (Alentejo) and Chairman of the GA of the Portuguese Association for Steel and Composite Construction (CMM).

Some notable previous positions that Antonio Lamas has held are President of the Portuguese Institute for Cultural Heritage (IPPC) of the Ministry of Culture (1987-1990); CEO of “Parques de Sintra – Monte da Lua SA” (2006-2014); Member of the Architectural and Archaeological Section of the National Council for Culture (2012-2016) and; CEO of the Cultural Centre of the Belém Foundation (November 2104 – March 2016).

Antonio Lamas was an external member of the General Council (governing body) of the University of Évora (2017-2021) and was also President of the Portuguese Road Authority (Junta Autónoma de Estradas) – Ministry of Public Works (1998-2000); and non-executive member of the Board of Brisa, SA (2004-2009).
Some of the most notable decorations and awards received by Antonio Lamas over the course of his career were the Order of Infante Dom Henrique – Grand Officer (2014); Silver Medal of Tourist Merit (2009); Gold Medal of the Municipality of Sintra (2012); Honorary Member of the Portuguese Association of Historical Gardens (2018) and; Special Mention of the Jury of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards, 2021: Dedicated Service to Heritage.

Over the course of her professional career, Sabine Nemec-Piguet has participated in several studies on the improvement and assessment of historical urban quarters in, for example, Yverdon and Geneva. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Architecture from l’Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – EPFL in 1978, with a thesis on the revitalisation of an industrial quarter in the city of Geneva. In 1981, Sabine Nemec-Piguet became an architect-city planner in the Regional Service for Monuments and Historical Sites, in the Department of Public Works. From 2002-2008, she was the Director of the Regional Service for Monuments and Historical Sites in the state of Geneva. This was followed by the position of Director of the General Office for Heritage and Historical Sites for the state of Geneva from 2008-2019. This agency comprises three services: the service for archaeology, the service for monuments and sites, and the service for the inventory of monuments. As such, the General Office employed 40 staff members under her leadership.
Sabine Nemec-Piguet is member of the Federal Commission for Historic Monuments Preservation (Switzerland). She has published numerous works, most notably on the urban and architectural development of Geneva, the legal framework of urban development, and Geneva’s heritage.

Sara Crofts originally trained as an architect and holds an MSc in Architectural Conservation, having written her thesis on Interpreting Cultural Significance. She recently left her role as CEO of ICON (the Institute of Conservation) having led the organisation through the pandemic and completed a number
of key projects including digital transformation, relaunching the members’ magazine, and publishing a new long-term strategy which includes a renewed focus on skills and accreditation.
She joined ICON from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), where she was Head of Historic Environment – providing advice and strategic direction to the Board and Executive on grant giving, and policy issues and building strategic relationships with historic environment organisations across the UK. Prior to this, she served as Deputy Director of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) where she undertook various activities including running the casework and education teams and leading the award-winning Faith in Maintenance training project.
She is currently CEO of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. She is also a trustee of the National Heritage Science Forum, the Chair of the BEFS Places of Worship Forum and the Chair of Europa Nostra UK.

Pavlos Chatzigrigoriou is a Civil Engineer with a Master’s in Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Monuments, a Master’s in Environmental Planning, a PhD in Architecture (Digital Cultural Heritage), and a post-doc in Digital Heritage at the University of Aegean. In 2015 his research (HERMeS) led him to the prestigious European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage “Europa Nostra.” HERMeS is now part of the “Best Practices for Strategy 2021” established by the Council of Europe and is currently extended to many historic cities. He attended as a guest speaker, among others: the “EU Cultural Forum”, “Best in Heritage”, “EU Best Practices in public administration”, “Digital Heritage”, “Strategy 2021” and many more.

He was a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the UNESCO Chair for Digital Heritage at Cyprus University of Technology. Today teaches Digital Cultural Heritage at the University of the Aegean, he is Chairman of the jury of the European Culture Awards – Europa Nostra in the category “Citizens’ actions and raising awareness of society”, co-founder of the non-profit NGO “Heritage Management e-Society (HERMeS)” for the digital management of heritage, chairman of the Board of Directors of the “Syros Institute” and Project Officer at EU funding for South Aegean Region.

Jermina Stanojev, PhD, is an independent expert in the field of cultural heritage and international cultural relations. She is a postdoctoral researcher at Uppsala University with a focus on circular economy and cultural heritage and holds a PhD in participatory and integrated governance of cultural heritage in the Western Balkans. She is currently appointed as an individual expert by the European Commission to the “Commission’s expert group on cultural heritage”. Her work focuses on culture-led, sustainable, regional development, policy design and evaluation for trans-disciplinary challenges through different governance frameworks and geopolitical levels. Since 2009 she is an advisor on the role of cultural heritage in international cultural relations within the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance and since 2016 supports the European Union in engaging in international cultural relations within the framework of the EU strategy for international cultural relations through Cultural Diplomacy/Relations Platform of the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, with a global geographical mandate, under which, among others, developed recommendations “European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018: International Perspectives”. She has established competences and wide experience in fields of international cultural relations and cultural heritage working with different international organisations and institutions (UNESCO, European Commission, Goethe-Institut Brussels, European Cultural Centre Foundation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia etc.). She has an extensive experience in research, policies and numerous projects such as the EU Horizon 2020 project, “Circular models Leveraging Investments in Cultural Heritage Adaptive Reuse”, Erasmus + HERITAGE-PRO, the report of the Structured Dialogue with the EC on “Skills, Training and Knowledge-transfer in the Traditional and Emerging Heritage”, the OMC working group of Member States’ experts report on “Fostering cooperation in the EU on skills, training and knowledge transfer in cultural heritage professions” etc.

Trained as a chemist in Germany and the USA, Johanna Leissner has been working in cultural heritage research in various EU and national projects for over 20 years with a focus on climate change, environmental pollution, environmental sensor development and sustainability issues like Green Museums.

She is chair of the EU OMC group “Strengthening cultural heritage resilience for climate change”, established in January 2021, and member of the EU expert group “Cultural Heritage Forum”, established in 2019. Currently coordinator of German research project KERES “Protecting cultural heritage from extreme climate events and increasing resilience”.

German delegate for the Council of Europe Strategy “European Cultural Heritage in the 21st Century” and of the UNESCO World Heritage Expert Group for climate change impacts on cultural heritage. Since 2005 scientific representative for Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft at the European Union in Brussels. Co-founder of the German Research Alliance for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in 2008 and of the Fraunhofer Sustainability Network. From 2001 to 2005, National Expert of the Federal Republic of Germany responsible for “Technologies for the Protection of the European Cultural Heritage” at the European Commission in Brussels.

Elena Dimitrova is Associate Professor at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Sofia with over thirty years of teaching and research in spatial policy and planning. She has a Master’s in Architecture, awarded in 1976 and defended her PhD in 1990. Dimitrova’s professional expertise and research interests are in the spatial and sociocultural aspects of sustainable development, participatory planning approaches, interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue on heritage as a factor for urban sustainability. She is a team leader in several international research projects; the author of numerous publications in the fields of urban development and planning, higher education and research, and cultural heritage preservation for sustainable development. Dimitorva is and has been a participant in numerous European academic networks and international conferences.

Elena Dimitrova has been a member of ICOMOS-Bulgaria since 2005 and Vice-President since 2011; a member of CIVVIH (International Scientific Committee on historic cities, towns and villages) since 2010, CIVVIH Advisory Committee member (2018-2021) and Board member (since 2021); representative of ICOMOS-Bulgaria in ICOMOS SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Working Group since 2019. She is a member of the Expert group on European Quality Principles for EU-Funded Interventions with Potential Impact on Cultural Heritage, jointly developed by ICOMOS Europe and the European Commission (DC Culture and Education), which was adopted by ICOMOS General Assembly in 2021. She was Invited to be a panellist (Theme II: ‘Community engagement through culture for sustainable local development’) at the UNESCO Conference on ‘Culture 2030 | Rural-Urban Development: The Future of Historic Villages and Towns’, organised in Meishan, China, in 2019.

Elena Dimitorva has extensive experience in scientific article reviews, ICOMOS missions and desk reviews and the evaluation of educational and research projects in European and national academic and research programmes. She has also been a local assessor for the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards since 2018.

Ola Fjeldheim has been working as Secretary General for Fortidsminneforeningen, The National Trust of Norway for the last nine years. Fjeldheim lives on an old farm outside of Oslo, and has been restoring it for the past twenty years. Fjeldheim has a university degree in environmental studies, and worked for nine years as a teacher. During those years he also earned a degree in cultural studies (ethnology. history
and art history). In 2005 his career took a new direction, working for two years on a Norwegian-Swedish Interreg project on crafts and heritage in the border regions between the two countries. Fjeldheim then started as a cultural heritage advisor in the local community of Ullensaker. In 2012, he completed a master’s degree in architectural conservation at the Oslo School of Architecture. Due to his interest in traditional carpentry, he has acquired some skill in practical work on old wooden buildings. During these years he has written a number of peer-reviewed articles on heritage subjects, and held a large number of lectures and practical courses.

Georgios Toubekis is a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT (Germany). He studied architecture at RWTH Aachen University, where he taught documentation techniques at the Faculty of Architecture. For the Aachen Centre for Documentation and Conservation, he has been the coordinator of heritage preservation campaigns within the UNESCO long-term conservation programme for the cultural landscape of the Bamiyan Valley World Heritage Site (Afghanistan). He is an expert member of CIPA Heritage Documentation and is interested in the use of advanced recording and documentation techniques to improve heritage management processes, particularly the use of remote sensing, laser scanning and geospatial database systems for heritage-related applications. For ICOMOS International, he is an expert on field missions in the framework of the Reactive

 Monitoring of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. He contributes to the the research category of the European Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards, the European Commission’s official prize for cultural heritage projects. His current research focuses on the use of heritage-led innovation and the impact of digital technologies to make the significance of cultural heritage tangible and to contribute to the valorisation of cultural properties and their long-term conservation.

Nicki Matthews MRIAI joined the Built Heritage Policy Team of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, as a Senior Architect in 2018. Her role includes the delivery of a range of progressive policies for cultural heritage including the contribution on cultural heritage objectives to the Regional Assemblies, the National Heritage Plan 2030 renewal, the National Policy on Architecture, as well as devising strategies for delivering heritage-led urban regeneration and climate change mitigation. As a member of the SEA Forum, Nicola contributes to the Environmental Protection Agency in respect of environmental impact of strategic, national infrastructural projects such as flood relief CFRAM programme, Irish Water, Energy, Transportation and Port Infrastructure etc. where proposals impact on cultural heritage. With regard to the delivery of the Department of Culture,

Heritage and the Gaeltacht policies through funding programmes, Nicola provides the technical support to the various funding programmes currently operated including the Built Heritage Invest Scheme, The Historic Buildings Fund, the Historic Towns Initiative and the Heritage Council-run Irish Walled Town Network (IWTN).

Prior to this, Nicola was the Architectural Conservation Officer (ACO) for Dublin City Council, with the remit to communicate the built heritage significance of the historic city and its regeneration through the reuse and repair of historic vacant buildings for residential use to meet the housing crisis – in particular the roll out of the ‘Living City Initiative’, to address the vacant upper floors of the historic centre of Dublin.

Professor Alex Torpiano is currently Dean of the Faculty for the Built Environment of the University of Malta, a position he has held for the last 16 years; he has served as Head of the Department of Building and Civil Engineering, 1988-1999, 2007-2011, as Head of the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, 2011-2016, as Head of the Department of Architecture and Urban Design, 2016-2020, and Acting Head of the Department of Visual Arts, 2021-2022. Het set up and served as Director of the Institute for Masonry and Construction Research between 1994 – 2009. He is currently member of the University Senate, (since 2008), and has served as a member of the Council of University between 2009-2021. He is a member of the Board of the Institute of Sustainable Energy, and of the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development. He has served as Chairperson of San Anton

School, between 2000 and 2009; as President of the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers, 1994-1996, 2017-2019, as Chairman of the Valletta Rehabilitation Committee 1995-1996, 2000-2001, as member of the Periti Warranting Board between 1999-2001 and since 2009. He has also served on the Eurocodes National Implementation Committee since 2002. He is currently Executive President of the National Trust of Malta, Din l-Art Helwa.

Árpád Bőczén is the founding president of the Association of Cultural Heritage Managers (KÖME), since 2012. He graduated as an architect at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and as a cultural heritage expert at the Corvinus University of Budapest. His main interest is the human and especially the socio-cultural aspects of our tangible environment. Encouraging people and communities to take an active part in shaping their environment and living spaces whilst developing existing heritage based on value has played a significant role in his practice. Building spaces and structures is equally as important to him as building communities.

He is the country coordinator of Interpret Europe, the international professional network of heritage interpreters. He is a certified interpretive writer and a certified interpretive guide and trainer. He has been the initiator, manager and evaluator of many international projects dealing with the wide range of cultural and natural heritage including built assets, archaeological values, landscapes, memories, objects, digital works, music and many more. He always attaches high importance to the establishment and follow up of good cooperation among different disciplines and cultures. He was the manager of Interpret Europe’s 2018 conference “Heritage and Identity”. This event was part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage program.

Charles Personnaz is a historian and civil servant, having spent most of his career in the field of cultural heritage both at the French Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Culture. He has been Director of the National Heritage Institute (INP – Institut national du patrimoine) since 2019.
Charles Personnaz has a special interest and commitment to the preservation of Christian heritage in the Middle East. He has authored several books published in France about Byzantine and Greek history and cultural policy.

Davida de Hond is a member of the management team of Museum Arnhem, a museum located in the eastern part of the Netherlands. As head of public and program, de Hond is responsible for education, marketing, communication, programming and exhibitions. Previously she worked as an entrepreneur in the cultural field, focusing on heritage and community building. She has a focus on participation and education through heritage and art. She has also worked for Erfgoed Nederland, the national heritage agency, with a role in the team that focused on heritage from an international perspective. For the Reinwardt Academy she has worked on international cooperation projects that focused on new museology, eco museology, community building and innovation in heritage education.

Besides her different employments, she is also active as an advisor on committees regarding culture and heritage subsidies. Currently for the Mondriaan Fund, and in the recent past for the municipality of Rotterdam through the RRKC, Provincial committee on culture and heritage in Gelderland and the fund for Cultural Participation.

Marianne R. Ytterdal, Assistant Professor at Aalesund University College in Norway, covering Mercantile, Maritime, and Technical English, Cultural Differences and Project Presentations, recently retired. She studied English and American Languages and Background, History of Art, Nordic languages and literature and Educational Science at the Universities of Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim. She has been active within Europa Nostra since 2000, in the years 2007 – 2009 in the new governance group. She is currently President of the Board of the Kjell Holm Foundation in Norway, which she joined in 2003. For 25 years, the last five as President, she was a board member of Fortidsminneforeningen: The Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments, an NGO that owns and maintains 41 properties of cultural significance. Other cultural heritage boards of interest are: the European Network of National Heritage Organisations, Jugendstilsenteret (The Norwegian Art Nouveau Centre), and Den norske Kulturminnedagen (European Heritage Days). Ytterdal has also published a number of textbooks for the teaching of Technical and Practical English, the most recent having been released in 2015.