For this episode of Holistic Heritage, we meet the team at the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub for Central and Eastern Europe and take a look back at the first few years of the Kraków Hub and its activities.

Hosted by John Beauchamp and Dr Katarzyna Jagodzińska, Head of the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Kraków. Also featured in the episode are Deputy Head of the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Kraków, Dr Joanna Sanetra-Szeliga, and Communications Manager Łukasz Pieróg.

The Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Kraków was established in July 2022, hitting the ground running to increase awareness of heritage issues across the region.

A major project undertaken by the Heritage Hub in Kraków was the mapping of the NGO heritage sector in the CEE region. We also set up the Kraków Heritage Forum, a series of meetings for practitioners to discuss local matters, such as culinary traditions and the Fortress Kraków network of forts surrounding the city.

We also discuss how our podcasts are a great tool to communicate our activities and the regional heritage ecosystem to a global audience.

In the episode, you can hear excerpts of soundscapes recorded while travelling across the region:

1. Organ interlude at St. Mary’s Basilica in Kraków, home of the Wit Stwosz alterpiece which won a European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award in 2023.
2. Walking the Via Transilvanica hiking trail near Piatra Fântânele in Romania, summer 2024.
3. A crackling fire opens the Łemkowska Watra festival in southern Poland in July 2024.
4. Urban soundscape of the city of Lviv, western Ukraine, April 2024.
5. Mining machinery in operation at the Queen Luiza Adit mine in Zabrze, Poland, early 2025.
6. Onboard a vaporetto in the Italian city of Venice on the occasion of the European Cultural Heritage Summit in September 2023.
7. The snap and crackle of wicker weaving at the Serfenta Association in Cieszyn, Poland, April 2025.
8. Mechanical looms being operated at the Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź, June 2025.
9. A thunderstorm in the Beskid highland village of Nowica, summer 2024.
10. The Polish-Ukrainian folk band “Hraybery” play in the south-eastern border town of Przemyśl, summer 2024.