European Commission: Young European Heritage Makers 2023

Young European Heritage Makers is a competition for children and young people to encourage exploration, discovery and expression of their heritage.

What is it?

Children and young people play a crucial role in the future of heritage protection and promotion and are a precious source of creative ideas and contributions to the field of heritage in general.

Young European Heritage Makers is a competition for the young people of Europe. It is an opportunity for them to explore their surroundings, identify the most interesting parts of their heritage and present them to the rest of the world. This competition should encourage young people to understand the concept of heritage and express their views.

Why?

The objectives of the Young European Heritage Makers Competition are:

1. To collect experiences and stories of how children and young people understand the European dimension of their local heritage. This can include tangible heritage such as monuments and buildings, features of the natural landscape, or intangible heritage shared by their community, such as dancing, singing or local cultural traditions. Creative interpretations are very much encouraged.
2. To identify and highlight the work of young people interested in heritage.
3. To bring future #HeritageMakers into the spotlight and connect them with their peers from other parts of Europe.

Who can participate?

Any group of young people or young individuals who live in the participating countries, who are under 18 years of age at the time of submission and who are interested in observing, exploring and participating in the environment and heritage that surrounds them.

Entries are open to two age categories – age 6-11 and age 11-17.

Only entries by groups are eligible to be selected for the prize. Individuals can submit their work, and it will be shared on the European Heritage Days (EHD) website, but the initiative ultimately intends to encourage the development of shared heritage communities.

Countries participating: Finland; Montenegro; North Macedonia; Slovenia; Spain; Ukraine.

How to participate?

The European Heritage Days invites Young European #HeritageMakers to express their own vision of European Dimension, as well as which European values are recognised in their heritage sites.

The steps are simple:

• Step one: Organise an activity with a group of young people, in age categories 6-11 and 11-17 years old, under the theme Young European #HeritageMakers. The outcome of the activity should answer the question:   
  - What is your European heritage?    
• Step two: Present the outcome of the activity through either:
  - a video of up to 5 minutes or
  - a photo, painting, drawing, or other visual medium, accompanied by a description no longer than 800 words
• Step three: Upload your group’s work to the EHD dedicated page (form will be active from 1 September) with details about the participants. Once the national coordinator approves your work, it will be published on the EHD website.

Important Dates

• 1 September 2023 / 28 February 2024 – Organising activities and uploading entries
• 15 March 2024 – Evaluation at national level, selection of two national winners (one per age category)
• April 2024 – Evaluation at European level
• May 2024 – Announcement of the selected works and visit to Strasbourg for the selected ones in the 11-17 age group. 

Link and Updates

European Commission

Guidelines for participation