The European Approach to Culture: the European Heritage Label

Cultural heritage is a topic with many dimensions, often complementary to each other. Even within the European Union, the topic is developed from different perspectives, partly because the European Union’s involvement in the field of culture has developed gradually over the years and with different actions. This chapter, after briefly outlining some of the different European initiatives, aims to provide an analysis of one of the measures adopted by the European Union: the European Heritage Label. This is a rather recent initiative that shows how the member States are fully aware of the potential but also of the limitations there are in managing heritage at European level; for this specific reason, in the Decision by which the European Heritage Label was adopted, there is an explicit reference to the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention, a crucial tool in this field. Starting from a more general approach inherent to the label as a whole, the selected sites in Italy will then be analysed specifically: the Alcide De Gasperi House Museum, the Fort of Cadine, the archaeological area of Ostia Antica and finally the island of Ventotene. Through the study of these heritages, it is possible to have a tangible and practical approach to what is considered cultural heritage within the European Union and which therefore deserves to be protected and disseminated.