Known as the Europa Nostra Awards, these accolades are given by the European Commission and Europa Nostra, a federation of NGOs from 40 European countries dealing with cultural heritage.
The European Solidarity Centre was honoured in the "education, training and awareness raising" category for its permanent exhibition.
The Polish institution is one of 24 laureates from 18 countries that have been recognised for their achievements in areas including conservation projects, research projects, and dedicated service to heritage.
An international panel of experts stated in its verdict that the exhibition at the European Solidarity Centre "highlights the importance of labour and how this built the Europe that we know today."
It also "highlights the value of activism for human rights, labour rights and political rights, and shows the importance of civic engagement in the advancement of these causes. The use of the project’s up-to-date exhibition techniques and participatory museological approach is of great value and exemplifies how to preserve stories and make them relevant to the contemporary world.”
The permanent exhibition at the European Solidarity Centre focuses on Poland’s Solidarity trade union, which was born after the historic August 1980 strike at the Gdańsk Shipyard, and developed into a national freedom movement embracing over 9 million people.
A good deal of space is also devoted to subsequent events in Central and Eastern Europe that culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism nearly a decade later.
On display are over 1,800 exhibits from nearly 60 museums, archives, local historians and former oppositionists in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Baltic states, Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine and Hungary.
(mk/gs)