Jury & Selection Committee

Paul Dujardin is a leading cultural strategist and senior advisor on European affairs to the Flemish Minister of Culture and Welfare (Belgium). With decades of experience in cultural diplomacy, multilateral cooperation and inclusive governance, he has shaped policies and institutions across Europe, the Arab world and the Global South.

He serves as Commissioner-General for Heritage in the Brussels Capital Region, President of Europa Nostra Belgium, and Council Member of Europa Nostra. He also sits on the boards of Culture Action Europe—the leading European think tank for cultural policy—and the Kanal Pompidou Museum in Brussels, and is a guest lecturer and expert at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

Paul’s work spans continents and sectors, connecting heritage with contemporary creativity, civic resilience, education, social justice, urban development and international relations. Rooted in a cross-cultural family and a lifelong engagement with Africa, he approaches culture as a humanistic tool for equity, solidarity and dignity. Guided by the words of Toni Morrison—“If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else”—he dedicates his work to empowering communities, amplifying unheard voices and sustaining culture as a space for memory, meaning and shared humanity.

Alessandra Vittorini is an architect with a PhD in Territorial and Urban Planning. She has held senior positions at the Italian Ministry of Culture and served as Director of the Fondazione Scuola dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali.

From 2012 to 2020, she directed the Superintendency for Architectural Heritage and Landscape of Abruzzo, and later the Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for L’Aquila and the earthquake-affected area, coordinating activities and programmes linked to the post-2009 earthquake reconstruction. She led the restoration of the Basilica of S. Maria di Collemaggio, which received the European Heritage Award/Europa Nostra Award 2020 (Grand Prix, Conservation category).

Between 2020 and 2024, she directed the Fondazione Scuola dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali, an institute for training and research in cultural heritage management, promoting research and training programmes nationally and internationally, including the PNRR national digital skills training programme for cultural heritage.

She is a member of the Technical Committee of the Extraordinary Government Commissioner for post-2016 earthquake cultural heritage reconstruction, serves on the Advisory Board of the Master in Management of Cultural Heritage and Institutions at Politecnico di Milano, and participates in several scientific committees, including Intrecci: International Journal of Architectural Conservation and Restoration and the series Ethics and Cultural Heritage of the Italian National Research Council. She is Vice-Chair of the Selection Committee for “Conservation and Adaptive Reuse,” a member of the Jury for the European Heritage Awards/Europa Nostra Awards 2025, and sits on the Scientific Committee of the Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica-Rome.

Dr. Johanna Leissner, trained as a chemist and material scientist, has been managing cultural heritage research for over 20 years. She focuses on the climate change impact on cultural heritage, environmental monitoring of cultural property, and fostering the green transition by implementing sustainability concepts for Green Museums and heritage buildings.

Dr. Leissner chairs the EU OMC expert group Strengthening Cultural Heritage Resilience for Climate Change and is a member of the EU Commission’s Cultural Heritage Forum, founded in 2019. Since March 2024, she has been a Supervisory Board member of the EIT Culture & Creativity programme (2022-2029). She coordinated the German research project KERES (2020-2023), which aimed to protect cultural heritage from extreme climate events and increase resilience, and the EU project Climate for Culture (2009-2014). She is a partner in the Austrian Academy of Science project on future climate change impacts on museum pests and fungi (2021-2024) and the German project on damage prevention for cultural assets in times of climate change (2022-2024).

Dr. Leissner is the German delegate for the Council of Europe’s Strategy “European Cultural Heritage in the 21st Century” (2018) and a member of the UNESCO World Heritage Expert Group on climate change impacts (2017). Since 2005, she has represented the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft at the European Union in Brussels. She co-founded the German Research Alliance for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in 2008 and the Fraunhofer Sustainability Network. From 2001 to 2005, she was the National Expert for “Technologies for the Protection of European Cultural Heritage” at the European Commission in Brussels.

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.

Elena Dimitrova is an Associate Professor at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Sofia with over thirty years of teaching and research in spatial policy and planning. She has a Master’s in Architecture, awarded in 1976 and defended her PhD in 1990. Dimitrova’s professional expertise and research interests are in the spatial and sociocultural aspects of sustainable development, participatory planning approaches, and interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue on heritage as a factor for urban sustainability. She is a team leader in several international research projects; and the author of numerous publications in the fields of urban development and planning, higher education and research, and cultural heritage preservation for sustainable development. Dimitorva is and has been a participant in numerous European academic networks and international conferences.

Elena Dimitrova has been a member of ICOMOS-Bulgaria since 2005 and Vice-President since 2011; a member of CIVVIH (International Scientific Committee on historic cities, towns and villages) since 2010, CIVVIH Advisory Committee member (2018-2021) and Board member (since 2021); representative of ICOMOS-Bulgaria in ICOMOS SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Working Group since 2019. She is a member of the Expert Group on European Quality Principles for EU-Funded Interventions with Potential Impact on Cultural Heritage, jointly developed by ICOMOS Europe and the European Commission (DC Culture and Education), which was adopted by the ICOMOS General Assembly in 2021. She was Invited to be a panellist (Theme II: ‘Community engagement through culture for sustainable local development’) at the UNESCO Conference on ‘Culture 2030 | Rural-Urban Development: The Future of Historic Villages and Towns’, organised in Meishan, China, in 2019.

Elena Dimitorva has extensive experience in scientific article reviews, ICOMOS missions and desk reviews and the evaluation of educational and research projects in European and national academic and research programmes. She has also been a local assessor for the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards since 2018.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.