Central Europe: rich in diversity, abundant in culture
Central Europe’s diversity in culture, heritage, and UNESCO sites makes it an attractive and captivating region for both residents and visitors. This cultural richness is underutilized and at times threatened due to poor management, coordination, and unsustainable tourism. Climate change and digitalization also impact cultural assets and their accessibility.
In period 2014-20, the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE addressed these challenges by promoting the protection and valorisation of cultural heritage, including the restoration and preservation of historic buildings and monuments, and supporting cultural tourism, and local cultural initiatives.
The external impact evaluation has concluded that cultural and creative industries play a significant role in driving both social and economic development in the European Union.
Here are the key evaluation findings:
The programme positively impacted the cultural and creative sector in central Europe. It improved the ability of public authorities and stakeholders to manage cultural heritage for social and economic development. It also strengthened the foundation for preserving and promoting cultural heritage and helped local authorities and stakeholders develop strategies for cultural heritage management.
The programme supported projects that improved the management and promotion of cultural heritage, sustainable tourism, and cultural industries. It highlighted the importance of cooperation between culture and entrepreneurship.
The programme achieved sustainable results by promoting innovation, cooperation, and entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative sector. It offered training and capacity building, encouraged networking among cultural actors, and contributed to the development of attractive cultural destinations.
Projects provided tools for better cultural management, private-public partnerships, risk management, and improving accessibility of cultural products and services. They also improved coordination and policymaking at various levels and enhanced knowledge and skills for stakeholders through training and experience sharing.
The Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme provides successful examples of effectively and sustainably valorising cultural heritage and exploiting potentials of the cultural and creative industries, for generating new economic opportunities. Moreover, the projects have managed to create awareness, build trust and reduce the fragmentation in the creative ecosystems, particularly at local level.
Projects
Project partners
Million EUR from ERDF to support cultural heritage
102
Tools to better coordinate cultural activities
154
Strategies and action plans to exploit cultural heritage
184
Pilot actions to demonstrate the benefits of supporting culture
265
Trainings to enhance skills for cultural and creative sector
92
Million EUR of additional investment in the cultural sector
In 2021, we launched an independent impact evaluation of Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE 2014-20 funding programme. The evaluation was conducted in two phases over a period of three years, between 2020 and 2023. It involved a thorough analysis of the programme, which employed a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
The Impact Evaluation Report lays out the evidence-based findings on the impact of the programme. As such, the analysis of the programme’s inputs covers all 138 Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE 2014-2020 projects, while the analysis of the outputs and results covers those 135 projects (97.8% of the total) that have been completed until 17th April 2023.
Innovation
Learn more about our impact in the innovation field.
Low carbon
Learn more about our impact in the low carbon field.
Environment
Learn more about our impact in the environment field.
Transport
Learn more about our impact in the transport field.