Cultural heritage protection in conflict & crisis

June 2025 –

Composing peace podcast mini-series 

The European Union’s concept on the protection of cultural heritage in times of conflict and crisis recognises cultural heritage as an important driver of peace, democracy, and sustainable development. What can artists and cultural actors do to rekindle dialogue, preserve memory, and build peace? What role can the European Union, as an international player, take in defending endangered cultural heritage? What concrete initiatives have already been implemented, with what outcomes, and in collaboration with which partners?

Listen to the podcast series dedicated to the role of art and culture in the face of crises and conflict: their capacity to support communities, foster dialogue, contribute to conflict resolution, and assist in both material and psychological reconstruction.

May 2025

Case studies on cultural heritage funds in Europe

culture Solutions’ member Daryna Zhyvohliadova co-authored the report “Case Studies on Cultural Heritage Funds in Europe” for the European Commission. It offers insights to support sustainable heritage protection and recovery through examples from EU Member States and beyond on: governance structures, funding mechanisms, accountability and transparency. Key focus areas include: Institutional and Sustained Heritage Governance; Incentive-Based Heritage Support; Emergency Heritage Response Mechanisms. The study is a contribution to efforts to establish a Ukraine Heritage Fund. This report is part of culture Solutions’ collaboration with the European Expert Network on Culture, Panteia and KEA European Affairs. 

10 May 2023

Cultural heritage and international relations

Our collaborator Ina Kokinova spoke about cultural heritage and international relations in the podcast entitled “El Emisario del Patrimonio” published by the Asociación de Jóvenes Profesionales por el Patrimonio Cultural (AJPC). Listen on different podcast platforms or YouTube.

24 January 2023

Composing trust podcast #1: Cultural heritage protection in crisis

This podcast episode addresses the European Union’s role and actions in cultural heritage protection in times of crises, with our guests Aparna Tandon, Giovanni Fontana Antonelli, Johanna Leissner, and Giovanni De Siervo, highlighting the importance of cultural heritage protection (and prevention) from multiple perspectives.

October – November 2022

cS Brief #12: Cultural Heritage Protection in crises: strengthening the EU’s role

This brief builds on the debate held at the joint EUISS-cS round table, organised on the 12 October 2022 in Brussels, and provides some updates on EU cultural heritage protection in crises and conflict situations, in light of the recent developments in Ukraine and other countries.

15 June 2021

Restoring livelihoods through culture in Yemen: lessons learnt

After successfully facilitating the virtual conference “Restoring Livelihoods Through Culture in Yemen”, in this article and event report #2 Nicole McNeilly and Bart Hesseling look into the key themes and future developments for the UNESCO-EU project.

17 November 2020

Cultural Heritage Protection by the EU and the Council of Europe

Presentation on the topic of “Cultural Heritage Protection by the EU and the Council of Europe: a stock taking” at the German Presidency Conference on Cultural Heritage Protection and Multilateralism. See the session recording (Day 2 – Morning) and the programme.

September – November 2020

The role of the EU in the protection of cultural heritage in conflict 

culture Solutions facilitated the international conference on “The role of the European Union on the Protection and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage in conflict and post-conflict contexts and mediation” organised by the EEAS, in partnership with MediatEUR and ECDPM. Read the full event report #1 and the blog post by Ana Laura Martins and Damien Helly. Find also the research report #2 on the example of Iraq which served as an input to the conference.