Heritage Dialogues Webinar - Cultural Heritage and Building Renovation

On 3 December 2025, the European Heritage Hub hosted its fifth ‘Heritage Dialogues’ Webinar, themed ‘Cultural Heritage and Building Renovation: Aligning the EPBD and Affordable Housing Objectives'. The webinar highlighted the role of cultural heritage in climate action and adaptive reuse, with a special emphasis on the European Commission’s Energy Performance for Building Directive (EPBD) and the EU’s Affordable Housing Initiative. Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, Secretary General of Europa Nostra and Project Leader of the European Heritage Hub, delivered a welcome speech and opening remarks. Marcos Ros Sempere, Member of the European Parliament and representative of the EP to the EC Expert Group on Cultural Heritage, via video message, Jutta Kastner, European Commissioner Policy Officer in the Creative Europe Unit, and Marco Morini, European Commission Policy Officer in the Directorate-General for Energy, followed with introductory speeches, setting the tone for the discussions. This was followed by keynote addresses from Ivana Katurić, Member of the Housing Advisory Board to the European Commission, Director of Urbanex, Assistant Professor UNIRI, and Olaf Grawert, Co-Initiator and Managing Director, HouseEurope! gGmbH. The dialogue was moderated by Cristina Garzillo Leemhuis, Head of Socio-Cultural Transformations, ICLEI European Secretariat, and featured panellists from the European Commission, European Investment Bank, academics, architects and housing experts: Professor Piotr Lorens, Gdańsk City Architect Professor Christian Hanus, Scientific Director of the Research Lab Sustainable Cultural Heritage, Danube University Krems (University for Continuing Education Krems) Fabrizio Seminara, Senior Urban Development Specialist, European Investment Bank Nicola Matthews, Senior Architect, Dept. of Housing, Local Government & Heritage, Ireland Johanna Leissner, Advisory Council member of the European Heritage Hub and Chair, OMC Group, provided key takeaways from the webinar, while Manon Richard, European Heritage Hub Project Manager, shared closing remarks and next steps. This webinar is the fifth Heritage Dialogue, each of which are aligned with the five pillars of the European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage. The insights from these discussions will guide the future direction of the EU-funded Hub’s Preparatory Action. Visit europeanheritagehub.eu for more info!