On 23 September 2020, the BNG Bank Heritage Award will be presented for the tenth time to the “best heritage municipality” in the Netherlands. The award ceremony will take place in the municipality of Rheden, the winner of 2019. The municipalities of Alkmaar, Appingedam, Noordenveld and Schouwen-Duiveland are nominees for the BNG Bank Heritage Award 2020.
For the BNG Bank Heritage Award 2020, specialists in the field of heritage have drawn up a longlist of municipalities that demonstrate vision and decisiveness in their approach to heritage. During the first jury meeting, the jury nominated Alkmaar, Appingedam, Noordenveld and Schouwen-Duiveland. The jury members will visit the four nominated municipalities unannounced and incognito. In January 2020, the four nominees will explain their heritage policy and practice to the jury by means of a short pitch. The winner will be announced during the festive award ceremony on 23 September 2020 (originally 22 April) in Rheden.
In its assessment, the jury will consider whether the municipality is able to link its heritage to other policy areas. In addition, aspects such as participation, communication, innovation and decisiveness will be examined.
The BNG Bank Heritage Prize is an initiative of the Kunsten '92 Heritage Platform and encourages municipalities to actively promote cultural heritage, also with a view to strengthening policy areas such as tourism, culture, education, social affairs, spatial development and the economy. The prize of €25,000 has been made available by the BNG Culture Fund.
Previous winners are the municipalities of Dordrecht (2010), Westerveld (2011), Schiedam (2012), Kampen (2013), Bergen op Zoom (2014), Beesel (2016), Zutphen (2017), Leiden (2018) and Rheden (2019).