EUROPEAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE PRIZE 2022

Photo: György
Gábos
Sophia Labadi is awarded the European Archaeological Heritage Prize 2022 in the individual category on the
following grounds:
Beyond its cultural value, heritage has the potential to address many of the challenges
that society faces. Sophia Labadi has made this potential a reality with her work, both at
an academic and a practical level. Scholarly, her publications are some of the essential
readings in the field of heritage. In particular, her work has analysed the working of UNESCO
conventions about heritage and the role of museums and heritage sites in daily life. More
importantly, together with her work in the field, her contributions have played a role in
shaping policy and practice aimed at a more inclusive and fairer environment, addressing
the role of women in heritage and the impact of good heritage practice for social justice. Her
latest work focuses on the contribution of heritage to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Confronting the marginal role that heritage usually has, she used her decade of work on
shaping policies for the management of cultural heritage from an inclusive and sustainable
perspective that strengthens the role of local communities and benefits marginalised ones. All
this was done while educating a new generation of professionals that bring these values to the
core of their practices. For her commitment to improving practice in heritage management,
for her valuable contributions to the field, and the impact of her work for inclusive and
committed practice, Sophia Labadi is awarded the 2022 Individual Archaeological Heritage
Prize of the European Association of Archaeologists.
Photo: György
Gábos
AVASA/IIMAS -
Engaging youngsters in
cultural heritage: Urkesh
One-on One program is awarded the European Archaeological Heritage Prize 2022 in the institutional category on the following
grounds:
Archaeological heritage seems to be inherently valuable and positive. However, communities
react to it in very different ways, and does so depending on the type and location of sites.
The mediating role of professionals is essential and the potential of archaeological sites to
address important issues in contemporary society is crucial. The AVASA (Association for
Furthering Value Archaeology and Ancient History) has implemented the Urkesh one-onone educational program to engage youngsters (12-16 y/o) from Italy, Greece and Syria with
the archaeological heritage in their vicinity. Besides the direct impact on learning and an
expected support of archaeological heritage protection, this program strengthened other
important values and skills that help to build a more inclusive and creative society. For
its work in shaping better global citizens through archaeological heritage, bridging the gap
between regions and proving the potential of good educational programs to engage with social
challenges, AVASA/IIMAS is awarded the 2022 Institutional Archaeological Heritage Prize of
the European Association of Archaeologists.