“What we build and retrofit today, should aspire to become the cultural heritage of the future. What we demolish today is lost forever!”

In the face of a transformative era for the European Union’s built environment, the Architects’ Council of Europe and Europa Nostra convened a one-day public conference on 28 November 2024, in Krakow, Poland. The event aimed to engage policymakers and stakeholders in discussions about the challenges surrounding built heritage. The programme highlighted best practices, innovative solutions for conservation, retrofitting, and adaptive reuse, as well as the barriers and enablers necessary to foster innovation. The conference concluded with a preview of the Krakow Declaration “New European Bauhaus: Heritage & Transformation”, jointly issued by ACE, Europa Nostra and ICOMOS, which puts forward 7 key recommendations for the future of Europe’s built environment, from favouring renovation and adaptive reuse, embracing innovation and traditional knowledge, upskilling and citizens’ participations, to quality criteria, peer-learning and risk management and preparedness. 

“With the Kraków Declaration, we want to provide a purpose to policy frameworks. Architecture and urban planning are the reflection of our societies. It’s about creating value, putting the right questions in place. It’s about the people, the quality, and freedom to choose where to live, in urban or rural areas,” said Ruth Schagemann, President of the Architects’ Council of Europe.

The Declaration also proposes a Call to Action to the incoming European Commission, recently elected Members of the European Parliament and Member States. 

“The EU ought to adopt an holistic, quality-driven and cultural approach in all EU policies and funding programmes which impact upon the built heritage. We shall reach out to relevant members of the new College of Commissioners responsible for Cohesion, Housing and Skills, among others,” stated Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic, Secretary General of Europa Nostra and Project Leader of the European Heritage Hub.

Please note that the Kraków Declaration is also available in French.