This initiative, promoted since 1991 by the Council of Europe in collaboration with the European Union, arrives this year marked by a growing concern: the risks threatening cultural heritage in a context of social, technological, and environmental changes, as stated by the Bizkaia Provincial Council.

In this edition, Europe has focused on the collective responsibility for its preservation and has emphasized “the urgency of responding to threats” to secure the cultural legacy.

In this regard, the provincial institution has organized a series of conferences since April to “deepen” into topics such as the value of religious heritage, identity, female death rituals, and conservation and restoration. The cycle will open on April 21 with a presentation by Raquel Cilla López, Doctor in Art History and director of the Museum of Sacred Art of Bilbao. She will analyze the challenges facing religious heritage today, a collection of assets that constitutes an essential part of Bizkaia's historical, artistic, and social memory, but which is particularly exposed to risks such as abandonment, loss of use, lack of resources, or inadequate interventions.

The second session will be led by Jon Mentxakatorre Odriozola, Doctor in Philosophy and Basque Philology, who will offer a reflection in Basque on the relationship between identity, values, and heritage.

The third conference will be given by philosopher and art historian Isabel Mellén and will be dedicated to female rituals linked to death, an intangible heritage that for centuries was part of the religious and social life of Basque communities.

The cycle will conclude with a conference by Eusebio Corcuera Alonso, head of the Restoration Workshop of the Cultural Heritage Service of the Bizkaia Provincial Council. During his intervention, he will address how the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage today constitute a shared responsibility that demands scientific rigor, ethical reflection, and social commitment.