The official Europa Nostra Awards Ceremony took place on Tuesday 29 October 2019 in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris during an evening celebration of European Heritage under the auspices of the President of the French Republic, Mr. Emmanuel Macron.
The ELLINIKI ETAIRIA (Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage) Programme “Greek Paths of Culture” won Greece’s only European Award for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Award 2019 (Awareness category), highlighting the inseparable link between the natural environment, natural resources and the intangible cultural heritage.
The evening closed with a Greek flavour with the internationally renowned Theodoros Kourentzis and the MusicAeterna Orchestra, performing works by Jean-Philippe Rameau.
Additionally, the Paths of Culture programme was presented in detail by its creator, Lydia Carras, at the “Excellence Fair” – an event dedicated to excellence in the field of cultural heritage – on Monday, October 28, 2019 at the famous Hôtel de Ville.
Lydia Carras was invited to submit positions and proposals to this high-level European meeting at the session entitled “European Policy Debate: Cultural Heritage at the heart of the revival of the European project” which was held at the beautifully restored 12 -13th century College des Bernardins on Wednesday 30/10. The meeting was attended by personalities involved with European cultural heritage including Franck Riester, the French Minister of Culture. In her speech, Lydia Carras emphasised the role that the “Greek Paths of Culture” programme can play in strengthening European identity and promoting a holistic experience of Europe as an area and way of life that includes monuments, natural environment and intangible cultural heritage (oral history, local practices, gastronomy).
“This is such an important award …“, stressed Lydia Carras, “..we share it with hundreds of citizens in all the communities where the programme has been implemented, that is in 14 areas of all regions in Greece – and we would like a copy of the award to be sent to the Municipalities. And we also share it, and our warm thanks, with all those who supported the programme steadily and generously, helping Greek Paths of Culture to evolve and grow: the A.G. Leventis Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation/SNF and F. Potamianos and his family.”
