In the context of the European Week of Regions and Cities 2021, a session on "The Urban Agenda and EFFORTS: New Ideas for Culture and Cultural Heritage" will be held online on the 14 October 2021 from 9:30 am to 11:00 am.

Thematic cluster: Cohesion

Our built and immaterial heritage is a cultural, economic and ecological resource whose potential is essential for the sustainable and resilient development of our cities. This potential can be used if relevant stakeholders and actors cooperate.

For this session, two European initiatives have merged to share their insights into how this heritage can be protected, managed and further developed: the European Federation of Fortified Sites (EFFORTS Europe) and the Urban Agenda for the EU's Partnership on Culture and Cultural Heritage (CCH).

The multilevel CCH Partnership, coordinated by Germany (Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community) and Italy (Italian Agency for Territorial Cohesion), together with the Italian Ministry of Culture, is nearing the official end of its three-year term. In the session, speakers will share the results of several concrete actions and give recommendations for cities, regions and Member States.

In the session, EFFORTS Europe will focus on civil and youth involvement in (fortified) heritage management. Fortified heritage sites are first and foremost local and regional centres of development. EFFORTS network members will present good practices for youth and citizen involvement in heritage development.

The main part of the session will be four parallel interactive breakout sessions on the planning, management and resilience of our heritage and citizen/youth engagement. During a concluding panel discussion with urban experts from throughout Europe, the findings will be summarised and reflected on.