The ILUCIDARE Consortium, including imec (SMIT and livinglabs), and the European Commission have just announced the two winners of the very first edition of the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes:
- ‘Archaeology for a young future’ (Italy/Syria), for excellence in Heritage-led International Relations. This online exchange programme encourages school students in Italy and Syria to discover their own, local history through archaeology and to virtually exchange these histories with each other in creative ways.
- TYPA – Estonian Print and Paper Museum, Tartu (Estonia), for excellence in Heritage-led Innovation. Founded in 2006, TYPA has preserved the values of historical printing and papermaking through the intersection of contemporary tools and traditional techniques.
The winners of the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes 2020 have just been celebrated – together with the laureates of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2020 (read related press release) – during a virtual gathering that connected culture and heritage professionals, policy makers, (young) entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, volunteers and supporters from across Europe and beyond. Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, awarded the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes during the European Heritage Awards Ceremony.
Archeology for a Young Future
“Through a shared vision of cultural heritage, ‘Archaeology for a Young Future’ allows children, school staff and communities in Italy and Syria to forge bonds in a spirit of mutual understanding, respect and friendship. Its strong educational component and trans-generational impact can contribute to maintaining and improving relations between the two communities in the long-run. This bottom- up, easily replicable project demonstrates that heritage-led international relations can happen among people and communities on the ground, and are not exclusive of governments or international organisations”, the ILUCIDARE Jury emphasised.
(see image at the top of the page)
Estonian Print and Paper Museum
“The Estonian Print and Paper Museum is a brilliant example of heritage-led innovation in many ways: from its unique multi-functional and inter-disciplinary model, to the novel methods used to recover traditional printing techniques, as well as its original ways of engaging local communities and creating value for visitors. In a digital era, TYPA contributes to the safeguard, recovery and reuse of printing techniques and know-how which belong to our common history and shared European heritage”, the ILUCIDARE Jury noted.
Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, stated: “In the current circumstances which are challenging for all of us, including in the cultural and creative sectors, the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes winners provide us with comforting perspectives: they demonstrate that our shared heritage is an enticing source of intercultural dialogue and discovery, showcase the huge potential of digital technologies to bring people closer together while they cannot physically meet, and embody the meaningful innovation potential of a sector that needs to be fully part of Europe’s economic and social recovery. I warmly thank you and congratulate you for your achievements.”
The winners of the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes were selected by the ILUCIDARE partners among the submitted applications to the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2020. Six projects had been shortlisted for the final run of the Special Prizes.
“The winners of the first-ever ILUCIDARE Special Prizes embody the creativity and agility of the heritage sector. As such, they stand as best practice examples for the heritage community as well as an inspiration for the broader worlds of innovation, entrepreneurship and international cooperation. Our heartfelt congratulations to the 2 winners on behalf of the ILUCIDARE Consortium! We are looking forward to further support you in upscaling your projects and to making your experiences enthralling role models for the ILUCIDARE network,” said Koen Van Balen, ILUCIDARE project coordinator (KU Leuven, Belgium).
The ILUCIDARE Special Prizes are supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, in addition to the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme for culture and the audio-visual sectors, which supports the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards.
About the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes
The ILUCIDARE Special Prizes, selected within the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards, put a spotlight on European change-makers in heritage-led innovation and international relations.
The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards are run by Europa Nostra in partnership with the European Commission since 2002 and is widely recognised as Europe’s top honour in the field of cultural heritage.
These newly-launched Prizes, running for 2 editions, are one of the highly-visible actions of the ILUCIDARE project. The ILUCIDARE project demonstrates and advocates for the importance of cultural heritage as a driver for innovation which improves our society at large as well as people-to-people international relations. The ILUCIDARE project and the Special Prizes are supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme.
The winners of the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes will have the unique opportunity to join the ILUCIDARE Champions Programme, a tailor-made excellence programme together with European and international experts as well as the ILUCIDARE partners. The ILUCIDARE Champions Programme will provide the two winners with an unmatched space to share their achievements and good practices, expand their networks, find suitable solutions to the encountered challenges and upscale their success.