Heritage values: Europe, a Common Background
Heritage Motor for Economical Development and Sustainability
Europe, a Common Background
Some buildings help us understand our common history, tokens of the construction of a common identity both collective and individual. Safeguarding cherished cultural heritage sites and intangible cultural expressions, knowledge and skills that, collectively, define a community, can be considered a contribution to human wellbeing, and result in a direct and significant contribution to sustainable development with economic, social and environmental dimensions. In Europe, heritage is vital to the competitiveness of tourism and plays an important role in shaping our common social, cultural, and political background. The Declaration of Amsterdam (1975) says: “Apart from its priceless cultural value, Europe's architectural heritage gives to her peoples the consciousness of their common history and common future. Its preservation is, therefore, a matter of vital importance.”