On November 22-23, 2012 the House of Nobility in Helsinki, Finland hosted the meeting of the Council of the Pan-European Federation “Europa Nostra”. The ICR, that became part of the Council of this prestigious European organization in 2011, also took part in the event.

Besides settling organizational issues, the Council meeting was dedicated to discussing the plan of events connected with Europa Nostra 50th golden anniversary that will be celebrated in Athens next June. Europa Nostra as an organization was founded in 1963 at the initiative of Italia Nostra. Its activities are coordinated by an International Secretariat based in the Hague, the Netherlands. The federation currently consists of 250 non-governmental organizations acting in 45 countries across the whole Europe. This is “the voice of cultural heritage in Europe”, as the organization names itself, acting in the field of cultural heritage and cooperating, among others, with the institutions of the European Union, European Council and UNESCO.

Another important topic discussed by the Council members dealt with the projects of future Europa Nostra programs on cultural heritage preservation: “The 7 Most Endangered” and “Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe”. They were both submitted for consideration of the European Commission. In the course of projects' discussion the Council members also agreed upon the program of special measures aimed at the protection of the endangered heritage. In 2013 the ICR will actively take part in the realization of these projects in the territory of Russia.

One of the key results of the events was the joint statement of the meeting participants about the new vision for the Europa Nostra mission on the European continent.