The 7 Most Endangered Programme identifies endangered monuments and sites in Europe and mobilizes public and private partners on a local, national and European level to find a viable future for those sites.
It was launched by
Europa Nostra
Europa Nostra (Latin for "Our Europe") is a pan-European Federation for cultural heritage, Cultural Heritage, representing citizens' organisations that work on safeguarding Europe's cultural and natural heritage. It is the voice of this movement ...
and the
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...
Institute in January 2013.
The 7 Most Endangered Programme is inspired by a successful programme of the US
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...
, based in
Washington. It does not provide funding. Its aim is to serve as a catalyst for action and raise awareness.
Entries can be submitted by Europa Nostra’s country representations, member and associate organisations, as well as by established public and private bodies active in the heritage field located in countries where Europa Nostra is not yet represented.
An international advisory panel, comprising specialists in
history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
,
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
,
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
,
conservation and
finance
Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...
, meet to discuss over the applications and shortlist the most endangered monuments and sites. The board of Europa Nostra reviews the list
which is then publicly announced during an annual congress.
Rescue missions to the sites included in the final list are then organised, and the sites are visited. The results and recommendations of the rescue missions are summarised in reports that become available on the organisation's website.
Lists
References
{{reflist
Cultural heritage of Europe
Historic preservation
7 Most Endangered Programme