Jury & Selection Committee

Marc Wingens was born in 1964 and studied Cultural History at Utrecht University, earning his PhD from Erasmus University Rotterdam in 1994. He became Director of Erfgoed Gelderland in 2006, supporting around 260 heritage organisations in the Dutch province through consultancy, advocacy and capacity building.

Marc serves as a Council Member of Europa Nostra, sits on the board of OPEN, and participates in national heritage boards. He has contributed to heritage awards and grant evaluations, including the Gelderse Roos Prize, the Brabant Heritage Award and the Mondriaan Fund. Together with his husband, Rudolf Burggraaf, he has promoted heritage awareness among UNESCO school students since 2017.

Deniz Özdiren was born in 1998 and is an emerging heritage professional from Cyprus, currently completing her Master’s in World Heritage Studies in Germany. With a background in architecture, she has expertise in conservation, adaptive reuse, community engagement and heritage storytelling.

She has co-organised heritage projects across Cyprus, Italy, Romania and Germany, serves as a coordination member of ESACH, and volunteered for five years with the bi-communal Technical Committee of Cultural Heritage in Cyprus as a Heritage Youth Ambassador. Deniz brings a thoughtful perspective to the Selection Committee, supporting the recognition of exemplary European heritage initiatives.

He is a member of the European Students’ Association for Cultural Heritage (ESACH) and a Young Member of Europa Nostra.

Born in Lisbon on September 23, 1952, Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins is the Executive Administrator of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, a position he has held since November 2015. He has served in numerous leadership roles across cultural, academic, and public institutions in Portugal and internationally, reflecting a lifelong dedication to public service, education, and cultural heritage.

He currently holds several prestigious positions, including President of the Grand Council of the Centro Nacional de Cultura (2016), Full Member of the Academia das Ciências de Lisboa (2022), Full Member of the Academia de Marinha (2014), Academic of Merit of the Academia Portuguesa da História (2015), and Corresponding Member of the Academia Brasileira de Letras (2021). He also serves as a Visiting Professor at Universidade Lusíada and at the Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas (ISCSP), President of the Curators’ Council of Universidade do Minho, and President of the Advisory Council of Banco Português do Fomento (2024).

His distinguished public service career includes serving as Minister of Education (1999–2000), Minister of the Presidency (2000–2002), Minister of Finance (2001–2002), President of the Tribunal de Contas (2005–2015), and leadership roles in national and European institutions, including EUROSAI and the Council of Europe. He also presided over the Steering Committee that developed the Faro Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Society (2005).

Throughout his career, he has been recognised with numerous national and international honours, including the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Christ, Grand Officer of the Order of Infante D. Henrique, Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain), Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross (Brazil), and Officer of the Legion of Honour (France), among others.

Lesia Voroniuk – Founder of World Vyshyvanka Day, renowned Ukrainian cultural curator, and Ph.D. in Political Science. An expert in Ukrainian cultural heritage and head of the NGO World Vyshyvanka Day, Lesia has implemented over 70 projects in Ukraine and abroad, including documentaries, books and art albums, exhibitions, workshops, fashion shows, diplomatic receptions, large-scale educational campaigns, festivals, and reconstruction initiatives. She is a 2022 European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards laureate (winner in the category “Citizens Engagement & Awareness-raising” and the Public Choice Award).

Slavica Vujović is a renowned conservation architect with a distinguished career in cultural heritage preservation. She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, in 1983 and completed a specialist exam in conservation in 1988. In 2013, she earned her PhD from the University of Belgrade with the dissertation “Modern Doctrine Improvement in Built Heritage Preservation – The Centuries of Bač Project Experience.”

Dr. Vujović began her professional career at the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Kraljevo (1984–2002), focusing on Islamic architecture in the Raška region and church architecture during the Ottoman period. Since 2002, she has served at the Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Petrovaradin, where she leads heritage-based local development initiatives. Notably, she is the initiator and manager of the Integrated Protection Project of the Heritage “Centuries of Bač”, encompassing the Bač Fortress, the Franciscan Monastery of Bač, and the Serbian Orthodox Monastery of Bodjani.

Her international contributions include participation in the Council of Europe and European Commission’s Regional Programmes for Southeast European Heritage (IRPP/SAAH) and membership in the HEROMAT Project, coordinating provincial institute activities. She has served as President of the Society of Conservators of Serbia (2002–2006), is a member of ICOMOS Serbia, and is actively involved with Europa Nostra Serbia.

Dr. Vujović has received multiple awards recognising her outstanding work, including the Great Award of the Society of Conservators of Serbia and the Europa Nostra Award for the Bač Fortress, highlighting her exceptional contributions to architectural conservation and heritage management.

Sorina is a cultural manager with a strong background in cultural heritage and the NGO sector. She has developed expertise in areas such as cultural heritage management, project coordination, youth and volunteer engagement, museum education, and art history. Passionate about heritage-related writing and reporting, she is dedicated to promoting the value and visibility of cultural heritage. Sorina is deeply committed to enhancing public awareness of heritage’s importance in everyday life and sustainable development.

Since December 2020, she has been part of the ESACH (www.esach.org) coordination committee for the European Heritage Youth Ambassadors Programme and currently serves as the President of the Network. Additionally, she represents the Cultural Association “Patrimoniu pentru Viitor” (www.patrimoniu-viitor.ro)