European Quality Principles for EU-funded Interventions with potential impact upon Cultural Heritage - Revised edition November 2020.

The main objective of the document is to provide guidance on quality principles for all stakeholders directly or indirectly engaged in EU-funded interventions that could impact on cultural heritage, mainly built heritage and cultural landscapes. Stakeholders cover European institutions, managing authorities, international organisations, civil society and local communities, the private sector, and experts. The document focuses on the core issue of quality, providing a summary of key concepts, international charters, European and international conventions and standards as well as changes in understanding and practice of heritage conservation. Environmental, cultural, social and economic benefits resulting from the application of quality principles are outlined. Given that the recognition of cultural heritage as a common good and responsibility is a precondition of quality, it is proposed to adopt quality measures through raising awareness and by strengthening the implementation of conservation principles and standards at every stage of the cycle, from programming to evaluation. The document recognises the need to develop capacity throughout the wide range of stakeholders involved. Principal areas are noted, related to programming, design, implementation, governance, risk assessment, research, education and training. Key research outcomes and specific recommendations are presented with each topic. The main recommendations can be summarised as shown on the following table. A set of Selection Criteria is proposed at the end of the document, as a tool for decision makers to assess the quality of projects with potential impact on cultural heritage. This revised edition of the Quality Principles document has benefited from additional feedback received from partners and stakeholders, in particular following expert meetings held during the Romanian and German EU Presidencies. ICOMOS hopes that the Quality Principles and Selection Criteria will be used by the EU institutions, Member States and others and is committed to support such efforts.