European cities and regions are currently at a crucial point where they must reconcile the preservation of local identity and social cohesion with increasing demands for energy and resource efficiency in buildings. The question of how to renovate historic buildings to achieve climate goals while not compromising their cultural value and identity, represents one of the most complex challenges of contemporary architecture and heritage conservation. This is the topic of the upcoming international event with the name „"Cultural traces and carbon footprints: Aligning Heritage Preservation with Energy Efficiency"“. The event will take place online. November 24, 2026 as part of the 52nd edition of the acclaimed series Breakfast @ Sustainability's.

This policy dialogue is jointly organised by networks ICLEI Europe a Europa Nostra. Its main objective is to examine how current European and national policy frameworks support – or hinder – the achievement of the dual objective of protecting cultural heritage and achieving climate neutrality.

Political frameworks and compromises in building restoration

The restoration of historical heritage is not only a technical task, but also involves difficult trade-offs between energy efficiency, barrier-free access and preservation of historical values. The discussion will show how cultural heritage can serve as a valuable resource in addressing multiple concurrent crises within the wider European political space.

The focus will be on key European strategies and legislative documents such as: Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), National recovery plans, initiative New European Bauhaus (NEB), Culture Compass or the recently published Joint Declaration „"Europe for Culture - Culture for Europe"“. Experts will focus on real-world obstacles, including: regulatory constraints, lack of funding and skills shortages at implementers. At the same time, they will point out opportunities for integrated approaches that take into account the specificities of specific locations.

INHERIT Project and the European Heritage Hub

The upcoming political dialogue is being developed in close cooperation between two major initiatives funded by the European Union. The first is European Heritage Hub, which is a preparatory action led by Europa Nostra, which brings together key heritage networks to support the green, digital and social transformation of society. The second initiative is the project INHERIT (funded by Horizon Europe), which focuses on integrated solutions for sustainable, inclusive and resilient restoration of monuments.

The main vision of the INHERIT project is to develop and demonstrate next-generation technologies to reduce energy and resource consumption, increase climate resilience and improve the accessibility of historic buildings. The project will bring a total of 11 specialized building management services based on information and communication technologies (ICT) that are linked to social and behavioral practices.

These newly developed solutions will be practically tested on 8 representative historical sites in Croatia, France, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Turkey. The choice of diverse locations will allow to verify the scalability of the outputs in different social, cultural and political conditions. The project also includes an extensive capacity building program for heritage managers, professionals and the general public.

Top experts and outputs for political practice

The event will bring together representatives of EU institutions, cultural organisations, energy efficiency experts and local practitioners. Confirmed speakers include:

• Julien Tami (Directorate-General for Energy of the European Commission – DG ENER),
• Riin Alatalu (Vice-President of ICOMOS),
• Mariachiara Esposito (Fondation des Sciences du Patrimoine),
• Vanessa Fraga Prol (Europa Nostra),
• Nicola Matthews (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Ireland / NEB National Contact Point),
• Gustaf Leijonhufvud (Uppsala University, Sweden),
• Eleni Maistrou (NTUA / ELLET, Greece),
• Arjan Broers (ISSO center, Netherlands).

The discussion will be moderated by Stephania Xydia from ICLEI Europe. Key insights from this dialogue will inform the development of a joint document Policy Brief with specific recommendations for policymakers at both European and national levels. JRi&CO2AI