The Declaration is built around 12 principles, ranging from artistic freedom and fair working conditions for cultural professionals to youth participation, heritage protection, ethical AI and culture's role in regional resilience. Two are especially relevant to the architectural profession: principle 9 on safeguarding tangible and intangible #culturalheritage, and principle 11, which explicitly names #architecture, design, heritage safeguarding and landscape management as drivers of environmentally responsible development.

This build on a principle that ACE has long championed, and which was later reflected in the 2018 Davos Declaration on #Baukultur, co-signed with UNESCO, International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and Europa Nostra: that building is culture, and that it creates the space for culture.

This longstanding perspective is today further echoed and reinforced by the New European Bauhaus (NEB), which brings together sustainability, beauty and inclusion as a shared framework for Europe’s built environment.

Daniel Fügenschuh, ACE President, started: "Architecture is a cultural act. Supporting young architects is essential to driving the sustainable transformation of our built environment and delivering inclusive, climate-resilient and high-quality places for all."

Picture: Signing ceremony of the Joint Declaration “Europe for Culture – Culture for Europe” with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament and Nikos Christodoulides, President of the Republic of Cyprus as the Rotating Presidency of the @Council of the European Union. Credits. European Union.

Read the joint declaration (English, French or German version).