2018 Paris

The 2018 FRH Biennial Conference, titled “Religious Heritage – Europe’s Legacy for the Future” took place from October 11th to 13th, in Paris, France.

This year’s FRH Biennial Conference, held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, encouraged the exchange and reflection on the challenges facing religious heritage, in Europe and beyond, in order to contribute to the lasting legacy of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. With more than 200 participants from 24 countries and 65 organisations, the conference brought together experts from the field of religious and cultural heritage, academics, representatives from EU institutions, representatives from public and private institutions, to discuss issues such as;
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  • Unprecedented threats due to changing patterns of society, worship and population
  • Cultural, community, economic and environmental importance of Europe’s religious heritage
  • Role of NGOs in conservation, management, re-use and promotion of places of worship
  • Examples of good practices throughout Europe
  • Measures for European institutions, national governments and politicians

The conference was under the patronage of; the Ministry of Culture of France, the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Places of Religion and Ritual (PRERICO), the Fondation La Sauvegarde de l’Art Français, the Belgian French speaking and German speaking Commission for UNESCO, and the Flemish Commission for UNESCO.

Along with numerous sessions and panel discussions, which you may find on the conference programme, the conference also celebrated the closing ceremony of the FRH Torch of Heritage and Culture, and the FRH Photo Competition awards ceremony, with the cooperation of PIQL and the Arctic Archive. Conference languages were English and French, with interpretation services in both languages.

You may read Mr Tibor Navracsics speech at the conference (EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport).

You can find some conference pictures on our Flikr album.