The European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ) is proud to announce its selection as part of the consortium entrusted by the European Commission to design and deliver the Simone Veil Prize, a new annual European cultural award to be implemented under the Creative Europe programme.

Chosen following an open European call, the consortium brings together GOPA Com, GOPA Pace, and AEPJ. Between 2026 and 2028, the consortium will be responsible for up to three annual cycles of the prize, overseeing its conception, governance and implementation across Europe.

The creation of the Simone Veil Prize was officially announced on 17 December during the Euro-Chanukah celebration by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

We are pleased to announce an upcoming webinar introducing the Intangible Jewish Heritage (IJH) website, a digital platform dedicated to archiving and celebrating the living traditions that continue to shape Jewish life across Europe.

Thrive — Exploring, understanding and celebrating Jewish Intangible Heritage and its contemporary relevance

Not all cultural heritage can be displayed in a museum. Memories, stories, customs and traditions live in the heart of a people and are passed down through shared moments, practices and rituals. Intangible Jewish heritage refers to these living cultural expressions that communities recognise as part of their identity and transmit from generation to generation.

Learn more with us about intangible Jewish heritage on
 4 February 2026
 3:00–4:00 PM CET
Online: Access link

During the webinar, AEPJ will officially launch the new Intangible Jewish Heritage website, an open space where everyone can contribute their own stories and traditions.

For the European Days of Jewish Culture 2026 we invite you to celebrate Jewish LOVE in its manifold expressions. After collecting your suggestions, and following thoughtful deliberation, the EDJC committee decided that, in these trying times, the best way to celebrate Jewish heritage in Europe is to put the spotlight on that spark of care and passion that fuels Jewish life and keeps it going through joy and sorrow.

Jewish LOVE (אהבה, ahavah) is romantic and familial, communal and divine, joyful and fierce. It courses through Jewish life in countless guises: from mystical poetry to Yiddish lullabies and from the Song of Songs to the words of Leonard Cohen. LOVE binds the fateful commandment given at Sinai to love God with the vows spoken beneath next week’s wedding canopy.

As part of the European Memory Data Space (EMDS) – Blueprint project, members of the European Routes of Jewish Heritage network participated in a workshop led by Jewish Heritage Network titled Building Together the European Memory Data Space. The workshop aimed to introduce the conceptual foundations and practical implications of building a shared European data space for Holocaust- and memory-related materials.

The workshop invited participants not only to understand what a data space is, but also to actively reflect on how such an infrastructure could support their own digital initiatives. Across all stages, the focus remained firmly on the real-world practices, constraints and aspirations of heritage institutions.

Ahead of the in-person workshop, participants joined a short online preparatory session which introduced the goals of the EMDS Blueprint project, outlined the core principles of data spaces, and set expectations for the in-person meeting.

The European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ) is proud to welcome Centropa to its ever-expanding network.

This welcome builds on an already well-established collaboration: AEPJ and Centropa have been working together for several years within the framework of MiDorLeDor, a project dedicated to intergenerational dialogue, memory transmission and education around Jewish heritage in Europe. Formalising this relationship within AEPJ is therefore both a natural step and an opportunity to further strengthen our shared work.

Centropa: preserving memory through people and stories

Centropa was founded in 2000 as a non-profit historical institute dedicated to preserving Jewish memory through personal stories, family photographs and educational resources. 1,200 elderly Jews in Central and Eastern Europe have already shared their life stories and family photos with them.

It is with great pleasure that we publicly welcome Paideia – The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden as a new member of the AEPJ.

Based in Stockholm, Paideia is a flagship pan-European centre for Jewish learning that brings together students, scholars, educators, artists and cultural practitioners from across Europe. Since its founding, Paideia has played a key role in strengthening Jewish knowledge, leadership and cultural life in Europe through high-level academic study combined with its strong sense of community and dialogue.

A Year of Jewish Learning in a European Context

If any of this sounds interesting to you or your circles, please take note that applications are currently open for Paideia’s One-Year Jewish Studies Program 2026–2027 .

The One-Year Program offers an intensive and inspiring academic experience that combines:

• In-depth study of core Jewish texts — including the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic literature, and Jewish philosophy — often through hevrutah learning
• Thought-provoking engagement with contemporary issues from Jewish perspectives
• An inclusive, international learning environment bringing together participants from across Europe

The program is hosted in Sweden and runs from September 2025 to May 2026.

Brussels, 17 December 2025 – Tonight’s EuroChanukah celebration in Brussels brought together European Jewish communities, civil society, EU officials, ambassadors and friends of Jewish life in Europe — including François Moyse, President of the Board of the Association of European Jewish Heritage (AEPJ) — for a powerful moment of unity, and witnessed an announcement with long-lasting impact for Jewish heritage across the continent.

At the event, held at the European quarter in Brussels and organised by the European Jewish Community Centre (EJCC) in partnership with the European Jewish Association, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that 2026 would see the announcement of the first winner of the Simone Veil Prize for European Jewish Cultural Heritage — a new annual European award recognising outstanding cultural heritage initiatives that highlight how Jewish cultural heritage has shaped Europe.

This month, AEPJ has brought to completion yet another cornerstone of our work: the European Routes of Jewish Heritage Incubator, which this year unfolded in the evocative settings of Bologna and Forlì.

This is a yearly event organised by AEPJ with the support of European Heritage Days for our route managers to network and share their knowledge and experiences in order to better strengthen our network. This year’s edition, ERJH 2025: Interpreting Architecture, Fostering Dialogue for Peace, brought together 37 Jewish heritage professionals who are all working to develop the ERJH across Europe.

Following a week of introductory online sessions, which you can read about here, we opened the in-person programme with a warm welcome in Bologna, where participants were invited to step directly into the city’s rich Jewish history with a guided walk through the old Jewish quarter, including a visit to the Jewish Museum and Synagogue, setting the stage for the days ahead.

On 30 November, AEPJ President François Moyse and Honorary President Claude Bloch were honoured to attend the reopening of the Jewish Museum of Basel in Switzerland.

Just a few days earlier, AEPJ was also represented at a preliminary event by Françoise Elkouby and Jean-Pierre Lambert from Strasbourg.

Housed in a listed building with remarkable wooden elements, the museum has undergone a significant transformation. Under the leadership of President Nadia Guth-Biasini and her talented team, the space has been redesigned into a modern, state-of-the-art institution equipped with innovative exhibition technologies.

During his remarks, the AEPJ President introduced the association and its 20 years of work, emphasising the importance of engaging citizens with Jewish heritage. He aligned with the museum director in underscoring that Jewish culture is not only a heritage of the Jewish community, but a shared European heritage that invites exploration by all.