Jury & Selection Committee

Lidija Martinović (born 1997, Cetinje, Montenegro) is a visual artist and conservator-restorer whose work bridges fine arts, conservation-restoration and museology. She completed her undergraduate studies in Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Montenegro (2015–2018), including a semester at the Faculdade de Belas Artes in Lisbon through the Erasmus programme, and earned her Master’s degree in Conservation and Restoration of Applied and Fine Arts at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad in 2021, with a thesis on the conservation of chromolithography of Herzegovinian Slaves.

Currently pursuing a PhD in Art History at the University of Belgrade, specialising in museology and heritology, Lidija combines academic research with practical conservation work. She has participated in numerous regional conservation and restoration projects and was awarded the 2018 University of Montenegro Annual Award for Best Drawing. Her professional interests focus on the conservation of paintings and paper, documentation, and the role of museums and archives in safeguarding cultural memory.

Dorottya-Lilly Makay (born 1971, Cluj County, Romania) is a civil and structural engineer specialising in built heritage conservation, with over 30 years of experience in heritage protection and structural design. She holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, focusing on Baroque roof structures, and completed early international internships with ICOMOS UK (1996) and US/ICOMOS (2003), enhancing her expertise in historic structure research and conservation.

Her career bridges academia, professional practice and heritage advocacy. Since 2018, she has been an Associate Lecturer at “1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia and previously taught at Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca on historical load-bearing structures and built heritage conservation. Professionally, she has led projects as administrator, project manager and structural engineer at IROD M Ltd. (founded 2003) and CONSOLIDEM Ltd., covering restoration of historic monuments as well as civil and industrial constructions.

Dorottya-Lilly has contributed to over 350 technical assessments and more than 360 restoration and reinforcement projects, including St. Michael’s Church, Cluj-Napoca (European Heritage Awards/Europa Nostra Award, 2024) and Calvaria Roman Catholic Church (Europa Nostra Award, 1998). She has published widely, presented at international conferences, and lectured in heritage protection training programmes. Actively involved in NGOs and committees for heritage preservation, she works with the Kelemen Lajos Association for Monument Protection, the Transylvania Trust Foundation, and other national and local historic monument committees.

Pablo F. Longoria is an architect and urban planner specialising in cultural heritage conservation and restoration. He earned his Master’s in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid in 1993 and has since led landmark projects safeguarding some of Spain’s most treasured monuments and historic sites.

As Executive Director of World Monuments Fund Spain, he has overseen major initiatives including the restoration of the Salon Rico in Medina Azahara, the Partal Oratory at the Alhambra, the Chapel of San Blas paintings in Toledo Cathedral, and the management plan for the Roman Aqueduct of Segovia. He has also led innovative projects such as the Virtual Reality conservation study of La Garma cave in Cantabria, recognised by Forbes as one of the world’s most notable VR projects.

Beyond his executive role, Pablo is an international educator and scientific director, contributing to UNESCO’s City Lab on Historic Urban Landscapes, ILUCIDARE capacity-building programmes in Cairo and the Caribbean, and numerous academic forums on heritage, architecture and sustainability. As an independent consultant, he has advised on global heritage projects, including Heritage Impact Assessments in Kazakhstan, Bahrain and Uzbekistan. A long-standing member of ICOMOS, he continues to combine scholarly insight with hands-on expertise, shaping both policy and practice in cultural heritage preservation worldwide.

Rūta Leitanaitė is a Lithuanian architect, cultural policy expert, curator and lecturer with over 16 years of experience in architecture and cultural heritage. She is Creative Director and Board Member of the Architects Association of Lithuania (AAL) and, since 2023, Chair of the National Council for Architecture of Lithuania, advising the Ministry of Culture on architectural quality, heritage protection and cultural policy.

She is a member of the European Commission’s expert sub-group Safeguarding Heritage in Ukraine, contributing to strategies for securing and documenting heritage assets, guiding quality reconstruction, and preserving cultural identity in post-conflict recovery. From 2021 to 2023, she served on the Executive Board of the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) and continues to chair its Task Force Solidarity with Ukraine, coordinating the Creative Europe project UREHERIT: Architects for Heritage in Ukraine. She has also led initiatives under the New European Bauhaus, including Holistic Renovation of Modernist Housing and NEB LAB Public Infrastructure for Ukraine.

An Independent Expert for the EU Mies van der Rohe Award since 2011, Rūta has extensive experience evaluating architectural and heritage projects. She also promotes public engagement with cultural heritage as host of the national radio programme We Need an Architect.

Catherine Leonard is the Secretary-General of the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO), where she works with heritage organisations around the world to protect and promote cultural and natural heritage. Her career began in language teaching, followed by a role at the (then) Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which sparked an enduring interest in international collaboration and cultural diplomacy.

She later joined the National Trust in the UK, where she worked with European heritage organisations and institutions, helped shape the Trust’s international strategy, and led global partnerships. Since moving to INTO, Catherine has worked with members in more than 80 countries, supporting capacity-building, communications, and policy engagement. She is passionate about the role heritage plays in sustainability, identity, and community resilience, and often speaks at international events about the ‘National Trust’ approach and model.

With a background in languages and literature, Catherine brings a strong focus on advocacy and storytelling to her work. She is particularly interested in helping organisations communicate their impact and connect with wider audiences. Believing that heritage is fundamentally about people, Catherine is committed to making it more inclusive, visible, and valued.

Dedicated to championing better cultural heritage policy to drive positive change, Léa Guillemant is a young cultural heritage professional. She earned her master’s degree in International Cooperation on Human Rights and Intercultural Heritage from the University of Bologna. She focuses on cultural heritage programs, with proficiency in project cycle management, policy development, and advocacy.

She had studied at the University of Florence receiving a master’s degree in architecture. After that, she studied urban conservation at the International Centre ICCROM in Rome and she continued her studies at the School of Architecture of the University of Rome, from where she received a specialisation diploma in the restoration of monuments and sites

She continued her studies at the University of UWE Bristol UK from where she received a master’s degree in Town Planning. For 38 years she has worked for the Μunicipality of Nicosia and she has been the leader of the Nicosia Μaster Plan. The NMP bi-communal team, supported by international institutions, was working on the definition of a common planning strategy for the preservation of the cultural heritage of the divided city of Nicosia. Four of these projects carried out by our NMP team were awarded by Europa Nostra and for their overall effort for preservation they received The Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Later, having the position of the director of the Technical Services of Nicosia Municipality, she acquired remarkable experience in urban rehabilitation and the management of large-scale conservation projects. During the last six years, she has coordinated the Zaha Hadid project for Eleftheria Square, a major urban design project in the moat of the Venetian walls. Agni is working on a voluntary basis for the Bi-communal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage and for the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Nicosia.

Since 2006, Sadi Petrela has served as the Executive Director of the Gjirokastra Foundation, steering its mission to safeguard and enhance cultural heritage within the UNESCO World Heritage site of Gjirokastra, Albania. Drawing upon a rich background in journalism, media ethics, and history education, Petrela has successfully directed more than 50 pioneering initiatives. These endeavours encompass heritage restoration, the preservation of traditional arts, the creation of museums, and the development of cultural tourism.
The Foundation employs a participatory, community-centric model of cultural management, fostering connections between Gjirokastra and other historic centres while navigating complex political and economic landscapes. Its notable achievements include the restoration of traditional architecture, the preservation of artisanal crafts, the establishment of a historic museum, and the transformation of a Communist-era tunnel into a tourist attraction for the first time in the country.
In 2021, the Foundation was honoured with the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Award for Dedicated Service to Heritage, affirming its standing as a trailblazer in heritage conservation on both national and regional stages.

Ole Rikard Høisæther is a seasoned leader in Norway’s arts, heritage, and publishing sectors, known for his extensive experience, diplomatic skills, and strong network across cultural, public, and media circles. With a PhD in Art History and Classical Archaeology from the University of Oslo, he combines a deep scholarly background with decades of practical leadership in high-impact roles.

Currently, Ole serves as General Manager of The Foundation Militærhospitalet at Grev Wedels Plass and Secretary General of The Oslo Society (Selskabet for Oslo Byes Vel), where he champions Oslo’s cultural legacy. His career also includes leadership roles at prestigious publishing houses, such as Head of Publishing at Cappelen Damm and CEO of Orfeus Publishing, where he managed large-scale projects including significant works on Norwegian art, cultural heritage, and biographies. His professional focus includes managing mergers, acquisitions, and high-profile publications like the Edvard Munch Catalogue Raisonné.

He has held governing roles, such as Vice Chair of The Foundation of Edvard Munch’s Studio and Chair of the Norwegian Archaeological Association. Ole’s literary contributions include authoring over ten books on Norwegian art and history, alongside numerous articles in national publications.
His honours include being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London and receiving multiple awards from the Norwegian Non-fiction Writers and Translators Association.

Gaianè Casnati is a conservator architect, Director of the Cultural Heritage department of the Centro Studi e Documentazione della Cultura Armena (CSDCA) and Research Fellow in Architectural conservation at Politecnico di Milano. Casnati is the author of several preservation projects in Italy and abroad (i.e. the preservation of the Roman amphitheatre of Milan, the safeguarding of the entrance tower of Shayzar castle in Syria, the structural repair of the katoghiké church of Marmashen in Armenia) and is editor/author of a number of publications on Armenian heritage conservation (several articles and 3 books). She has organised three exhibits on Armenian themes (that travelled in Armenia and in Europe) and has spoken at international congresses (in Italy, Armenia, France, Belgium, Austria, etc.). She has been working for CSDCA and Politecnico di Milano on projects in Armenia for organisations such as UNESCO, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Europa Nostra and the World Bank.
She has been a project manager for the project Restoration Training in Armenia, awarded by Europa Nostra in 2015 in the category Education, Training and Awareness Raising. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the 7 Most Endangered programme of Europa Nostra.

Graduated in 1978 with a Master’s degree in Architecture from l’Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – EPFL, with a thesis on the revitalisation of an industrial quarter in the city of Geneva. Over the course of her professional career, she has participated in several studies on the improvement and assessment of historical urban quarters, mainly in Geneva. After working as an architect and city planner for the Regional Service for Monuments and Historical Sites, in the Department of Public Works in the state of Geneva, she was its director from 2002-2008. This was followed by the position of Director of the General Office for Heritage and Historical Sites for the state of Geneva from 2008-2019. This agency comprises three services: the service for Archaeology, the service for Monuments and Historical Sites, and the service for the Inventory of monuments. As part of her duties, she has served on several architectural competition juries, organized lecture series, edited publications on cultural heritage and written articles, most notably on the urban and architectural development of Geneva, the legal framework of urban development and Geneva heritage.

From 1999 to 2011, she was a member of the Federal Commission for the Conservation of Nature and Landscape. From 2012 to 2023, she was a member and vice-president of the Federal Commission for the Preservation of Historic Monuments. Since May 2024, she has been President of ICOMOS Switzerland.

Petr graduated from the Pharmaceutical Department of Charles University followed by a doctoral degree in pharmacology (1985). In 1989, he started developing business for ICI Pharmaceuticals in Czechoslovakia and moved to the UK for ICI/Zeneca in 1992, where he worked in various positions for the UK as well as for a number of European and Asian markets. In 1998 he became the Managing Director for Zeneca in Finland. Consequently, he acted as the Managing Director for AstraZeneca, Novartis and Baxter in CZ/Slovakia. When completing the restitution process of inherited estate at the turn of the century, he gradually moved to its management. He joined the Czech Association of Castle and Manor Houses Owners (AMHZ), was elected to the Board and consequently as Vice-President in 2013. He served as Vice-President for four terms till spring 2024. Petr has been actively representing AMHZ at the European Historic Houses Association (EHHA) meetings, as well as at other national Association meetings e.g. Austria, UK, NextGen. He was also present at the International Cultural Heritage Conference in Dublin in June 2017. In 2018 he was elected to Europa Nostra Council. He initiated and consequently completed the establishment of Europa Nostra Representation in the Czech Republic in 2019 of which he is the Head. In 2022 he was elected as Vice-President of Europa Nostra. He is also a Chairman of the Czech-Liechtenstein Society since 2021.

Irene Reyes is a young professional specialising in International and European Law passionate about fostering connections between citizens and policymakers. Through her work at prestigious institutions like INTERPOL and UNESCO, she has gained valuable experience in public policy, project management, and international cooperation, focusing on the European and global landscape. Irene’s commitment to civic engagement extends beyond her professional roles—she actively contributes as an Editor at the European Students’ Association for Cultural Heritage (ESACH), where she empowers young voices in the field of cultural heritage.

Simon O’Connor is a composer and the founding Director of the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), a partnership between University College Dublin and the National Library of Ireland. Under his leadership, MoLI has received the European Heritage Award/Europa Nostra Award (Grand Prix, 2023), the Business to Arts Award for Best Philanthropic Support of the Arts (2021), as well as multiple design awards, and was shortlisted for both the European Museum of the Year Award and the European Mies van der Rohe Architecture Award.

He was also the founding curator of the Little Museum of Dublin, which was awarded a European Heritage Award in 2016. Combining artistic vision with organisational leadership, he develops engaging cultural experiences that strengthen public appreciation of Ireland’s literary heritage.

Davida de Hond is a member of the management team of Museum Arnhem, a museum located in the eastern part of the Netherlands. As head of public and program, de Hond is responsible for education, marketing, communication, programming and exhibitions. Previously she has worked as an entrepreneur in the cultural field, focusing on heritage and community building. She has a focus on participation and education through heritage and art. She also worked for Erfgoed Nederland, the national heritage agency, with a role in the team that focussed on heritage from an international perspective. For the Reinwardt Academy, she has worked on international cooperation projects that focussed on new museology, eco museology, community building and innovation in heritage education.

Besides her different employments, she is also active as an advisor on committees regarding culture and heritage subsidies. In the recent past, she has worked for the Mondriaan Fund, for the municipality of Rotterdam through the RRKC, the Provincial Committee on Culture and Heritage in Gelderland and the fund for Cultural Participation.

Árpád Bőczén has been the founding president of the Association of Cultural Heritage Managers (KÖME), since 2012. He graduated as an architect at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and as a cultural heritage expert at the Corvinus University of Budapest. His main interest is the human and especially the socio-cultural aspects of our living environment. Encouraging people and communities to take an active part in shaping their environment and living spaces whilst developing existing heritage based on value has played a significant role in his practice. Building spaces and structures are equally as important to him as building communities. He is a certified interpretive writer and a certified interpretive guide and trainer. He has been the initiator, manager and evaluator of many international projects dealing with a wide range of cultural and natural heritage including built assets, archaeological values, landscapes, memories, objects, digital works, music and many more. He always attaches high importance to the establishment and follow-up of good cooperation among different disciplines and cultures. He was the manager of Interpret Europe’s 2018 conference “Heritage and Identity”. This event was part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage programme.

Flora Bacquelaine Vidal de Llobatera SPAIN She holds a PhD in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies and her professional activity combines cultural management, project evaluation, university teaching and scientific research focused on cultural studies. She has been the coordinator of the Culture and Tourism Commissions in the European Association for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Euroregió Pirineus-Mediterrània until November 2024. She currently takes part as a team member of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya’s research project “Franco’s regionalism from Catalonia: centripetal practices and discourses” (PID2021-125227NB-I00), an activity that she combines with the task of collaborating lecturer in the Master’s Degree in Cultural Management at the UOC-UdG.

Dr. Natalia Moussienko is Europa Nostra Vice-President. She served as a member of the jury for the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards in the category Dedicated Service to Heritage (2019-2020) and later as a member of the Selection Committee in the category Citizens Engagement and Awareness Raising (2021-2022). Furthermore, she was on the Selection Committee for the European Heritage Hub Competition (2024).

Natalia Moussienko is a leading research fellow at the Modern Art Research Institute of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine in Kyiv. She studied philosophy at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, and subsequently at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine where she received her doctorate. She is the author of numerous articles and books on the theory and history of culture, cultural diplomacy, urbanism, and cinema.

Dr. Moussienko pays special attention to the issues of art and cultural heritage at war: she lectures internationally and speaks on radio, television, and other mass media. In 2022–24 she presented her lectures in Ukraine, USA, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Cyprus, Serbia, Germany, and Italy. She was a coordinator of the International Heritage Solidarity Fellowship for the Ukrainian Defenders of the Cultural Heritage, launched by Europa Nostra (2022-2023).

Natalia Moussienko is the author of the research on the strategy and institutional development of cultural diplomacy and an educational course for Ph.D. students “Cultural Heritage as a Vector of Cultural Diplomacy”. She initiated and organized four Cultural Diplomacy Forums in Kyiv, notably “Cultural Heritage Matters to Cultural Diplomacy” in the framework of the European Year of Cultural Heritage (2018).

Pavlos Chatzigrigoriou is a Civil Engineer specialising in heritage preservation and digital cultural heritage. He holds a Master’s in Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Monuments, a Master’s in Environmental Planning, a PhD in Architecture (Digital Cultural Heritage), and a postdoctoral fellowship in Digital Heritage at the University of the Aegean. In 2015, his project HERMeS received the European Heritage Award/Europa Nostra Award and was recognised by the Council of Europe as a Best Practice for Strategy 2021.

He teaches Digital Cultural Heritage at the University of the Aegean, serves as chair of the Selection Committee of the European Heritage Awards in the category of Citizens’ Engagement and Awareness-Raising, and co-founded the NGO Heritage Management e-Society (HERMeS). He is also Chairman of the Syros Institute’s Board, Project Officer for EU Funding in the South Aegean Region and, since 2024, Managing Director of the Historical Museum of Hermoupolis, where he develops inclusive initiatives positioning the museum as a centre for knowledge and cultural heritage in Syros.

Lorenzo Venezia was born in Vibo Valentia, Italy on 17 August 1992. He studied law at the University of Milano Bicocca and wrote his final dissertation on the role of Interpol in the operations of cultural objects restitutions when illegally exported. He then completed a one-year master’s programme in “Cultural Property Protection in Crisis Response” at the University of Turin with a final project on the use of QR codes inside cultural institutions to raise awareness in the public about illicit art trafficking. Lorenzo is currently working on a research project at C-Ship of the ICHEC Brussels Management School which is focusing on the relationship between local communities, environmental issues and cultural centres in the Region of Brussels. In December 2024, he will start a PhD on corporate financial management and crisis prevention at Universitas Mercatorum with a focus on digital transition in European non-profit cultural organisations as a tool for crisis prevention and the case study of ENCATC.
He has been a member of ESACH since June 2023 and in May 2024 he started to collaborate as Editor.

She has been working as an architect for 40 years, running her own studio since 1997 and has been teaching at different universities since 1999 with a professor’s post from 2006. She has been working internationally as well, for almost 10 years in Bosnia Herzegovina with the restoration of war-damaged monuments and with the establishment of The Commission to Preserve National Monuments, as stipulated in the Dayton Peace Agreement.
At the moment, she is teaching both at Dalarna University where she also participates in some applied research projects, as well as at Chalmers University in Gothenburg. Otherwise, she runs her architect’s studio where she has mainly occupied with restoration projects of listed buildings, state monuments such as Örebr castle and all buildings on Skeppsholmen, the island in front of the Royal Palace in Stockholm.

Charles Personnaz is a historian and civil servant, having spent most of his career in the field of cultural heritage both at the French Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Culture. He has been the Director of the National Heritage Institute (INP – Institut National du Patrimoine) since 2019.
Charles Personnaz has a special interest and commitment to the preservation of Christian heritage in the Middle East. He has authored several books published in France about Byzantine and Greek history and cultural policy.

Dr. Marine Mizandari has been co-chairing the National Trust of Georgia since 2017.
With 30 years of professional experience, her career spans scientific research in cultural heritage and the implementation of projects across Georgia and Europe.
Her extensive background includes high-level management roles, such as ministerial management and policy development. She has advised the Georgian government on strategic documents and served as the first Deputy Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia from 2012 to 2014.

Victor Boye Julebæk, Ph.D., is an accomplished architect and academic who combines a deep theoretical foundation with practical experience. He studied architecture at both the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, grounding his approach in the rigorous architectural traditions of Denmark and Switzerland. He serves as an assistant professor at the Royal Danish Academy and is head of the Master’s Programme for Cultural Heritage, Transformation, and Conservation. In his teaching, research and practice, there is a focus on both the theoretical and the hands-on, applied perspectives of the conservation and transformation of architectural heritage with an emphasis on material practices, cultures, and ecologies.