The 6th Heritage Forum of Central Europe on “Heritage & Development” takes place online from 16 till 18 June 2021.

Kathrin Deventer, Secretary General of EFA, was a panelist on the first day of the Heritage Forum in the session on "The future of mega-events in historic cities" and discussed about what do festivals mean for historic cities, as economic resource, threat, in terms of use and exploration of cultural heritage; about festivals’ work with the narratives, history and identities of the cities; and how culture can play a role in the post-pandemic rebuilding process. 

“The question would be for me: Which opportunities exist for big events to re-think their model and develop new visions? How can they be more locally embedded and be more part of the ecosystem of the city, away from the ‘mono-cultural’ explorative use of space and time?”

On this occasion, Kathrin presented the initiative of a festival cities seal, a proposal developed by a steering group of 7 cities and stakeholders from the cities of Bergen, Belgrade, Edinburgh, Ghent, Ljubljana, Krakow and Rotterdam. The festival cities seal includes a recognition, a commitment and an invitation towards all sorts of local territories that wish to associate and integrate their development and image to a strong cultural commitment. Festivals are one of the most present and effective cultural platforms that serve the ambition to use the arts as a vehicle to realise all sorts of societal results in a community.

The Heritage Forum of Central Europe is a cyclical, biennial event organised by the International Cultural Centre in Kraków. It is an interdisciplinary platform for meetings and discussions on the relations between the past and the present informed by the broad understanding of heritage. The Kraków conference is the voice of Central Europe on the philosophy, management, protection, economics, politics and social issues of cultural heritage.