The European Commission and Europa Nostra have announced the winners of the 2022 European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards. The annual EU prize for cultural heritage rewards 30 excellent initiatives and outstanding personalities from 18 European countries, representing the latest developments and priorities related to heritage policy and practice in Europe.

The award categories include conservation and adaptive re-use, research education, training and skills, citizens’ engagement and awareness-raising, and heritage champions.

This year, the “Lumbardhi Public Again” project from Prizren, Kosovo, was among the winners in the citizens’ engagement and awareness-raising category.  “Lumbardhi Public Again” is an initiative to save the Lumbardhi Cinema from privatisation and demolition, and to reclaim it as a cultural heritage site open to all. The cinema, consisting of indoor screens and an open-air cinema, was built in the 1950s and enjoyed huge popularity in the city of Prizren until the late 1980s. Following their campaigns in 2007 and 2014, the DokuFest and EC Ma Ndryshe civil society organisations launched the Lumbardhi Foundation in 2015. Over the course of seven years, the foundation has achieved its founding aims. Reviving the cinema in collaboration with CHwB Kosovo and a number of local and international partners, including the EU,  through emergency and restorative interventions, has enabled close to 1,000 public programmes reaching out to more than 100,000 users and visitors.