Parliamentary Assembly                                    
Council of Europe
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Doc. 1313415 February 2013

Industrial heritage in Europe

Report 1Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media
Rapporteur: Ms Ismeta DERVOZ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Group of the European People's Party
Summary
The tangible and intangible components of industrial heritage form an essential part of European shared identity as they reflect a rich historic interaction through the transfer of skills and expertise, technology and processes across national boundaries.
However, the industrial heritage is highly vulnerable, most often lost for lack of awareness, documentation, recognition or protection, but also because of changing economic trends and difficult environmental issues or due to its overwhelming size and complexity. Public authorities should better understand and value the potential of industrial heritage, which can become a key element for sustainable territorial and socio-economic regeneration. The report makes a number of practical recommendations to national decision-makers with a view to ensuring that the legacy of Europe’s Age of Industry is safeguarded for future generations. At the European level, UNESCO and the European Union are invited to engage with the Council of Europe in developing a European label for the industrial heritage and to support the campaign of the European Federation of Associations of Industrial and Technical Heritage (E-FAITH) for a European Industrial Heritage Year in 2015.

1. Reference to committee: Doc. 12677, Reference 3799 of 3 October 2011.