The latest mapping of the heritage NGO sector in Central and Eastern Europe, conducted by the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Kraków (to be published in June 2025), has shown that heritage practitioners and others working in the sector often suffer from stress and burnout. This is of course a wider trend across society.

How can we slow down and find our balance? Can heritage be the answer?

We ask the Cieszyn-based Serfenta Association, whose Craft Revitalisation Model earned them a European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award in 2024, how to take things slow and whether traditional basket weaving is the answer for stressed-out urbanites in need of rest.

John Beauchamp and Katarzyna Jagodzińska speak to Paulina Adamska, Łucja Cieślar and Urszula Szwed from the Serfenta Association at the headquarters in Cieszyn.

“When the hands are working, the head is resting,” says Łucja Cieślar, one of the Serfenta team. During the podcast, she rustles various types of reeds and straw for your ASMR listening pleasure!

Over recent decades, a lot of industry in the region of Silesia has shut down. While some plants and factories have been demolished, others have stood the test of time and are still standing, albeit having been adapted to completely new functions, such as museums, art galleries, restaurants, cafes, hotels, and as headquarters of various companies.

Usually these buildings were in need of change, being adapted to serve current needs and possibilities, yet leaving some authenticity behind. Perhaps only in this way these buildings could have been saved… Join us as we discover Silesia and the potential for adaptation and reuse of the region’s industrial heritage.

In this episode we visit:

• Queen Louise Adit and Guido Mine at the Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze, Poland (European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Grand Prix award winner in 2019)
• Dolní Oblast Vítkovice complex in Ostrava, Czechia
• PLATO Contemporary Art Gallery in Ostrava, Czechia
• Landek Park Mining Museum in Ostrava, Czechia
• Zinc Rolling Mill in Świętochłowice, Poland (owned and managed by the Foundation for the Protection of Silesian Industrial Heritage, represented by Dr Piotr Gerber, Heritage Champion awarded in 2024)

In this inaugural episode of Heritage Hour, we speak to leading experts on the preservation of Jewish heritage in Poland.

We hear about the synagogue in Orla, in eastern Poland, and its submission to the 7 Most Endangered Programme run by Europa Nostra. What is special about the synagogue in Orla and why was it important to include it in the 7ME programme? Are there any other synagogues eligible? What is the scale of Jewish heritage sites that still need securing, protecting and restoring? What is the public awareness of Jewish heritage today? The Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Kraków’s Katarzyna Jagodzińska and John Beauchamp are in the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews to meet:

Jolanta Gumula – Deputy Director for Programming, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Piotr Ostrowski – Publisher, Virtual Shtetl online project, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Piotr Puchta – CEO, Foundation for Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland
Krzysztof Bielawski – Foundation for Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland
Aleksandra Janus – President, Zapomniane Foundation

Heritage Hour is the latest podcast series to come from the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Kraków.

Each episode takes an important topic concerning heritage in our part of Europe and brings it to the table to discuss with a range of experts.

As the title suggests, the podcast is an hour-long discussion, which allows us to get to the heart of each matter, as well as giving a voice to the many heritage practitioners we will be meeting on the way!