Industrial heritage is the tangible history of industrial society. Think of factory buildings, bridges, locks, mills, railway stations, drilling towers, and, for example, craft schools, printing works and other commercial buildings. Throughout the Netherlands, you will find examples of industrial heritage that has been restored and repurposed into cultural complexes, homes, multifunctional buildings or city parks, among other things.
Award ceremony BNG Heritage Award 2026
The winner of the BNG Heritage Award 2026 will be announced on 28 May during a heritage symposium and festive award ceremony. The symposium is being organised by and will take place in the municipality of Oirschot. Oirschot won in 2025 with the theme of intangible heritage.
BNG Heritage Award
The BNG Heritage Award is for the municipality that best manages its heritage and actively involves its residents in this process. With this award, the Heritage Platform of Kunsten '92 shares good examples to inspire other municipalities. The BNG Heritage Award, worth €30,000, is made possible by main sponsor BNG Cultuurfonds and has been presented annually since 2010.
The jury for the 2026 edition consists of:
• Ron König (jury chair, mayor of Deventer, chair of BNG Cultuurfonds)
• Susan Lammers (managing director of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands)
• Christian Pfeiffer (director of the Huizer Museum)
• Karianne Vandenbroucke (property project manager at Natuurmonumenten)
• Marielle Hendriks (director-administrator of Erfgoedhuis Zuid-Holland)
• Rabiaâ Benlahbib (director of Kunstfort Vijfhuizen and director of Creative Court)
• Gwen Smits (monument conservator at Monumentenwacht Noord-Brabant) joins the jury of the BNG Heritage Prize 2026 as a young jury member.
