Three activists from the Belgrade association Kulturni Cerak, Tamara Nikolić Prodić, Nađa Vujović Filipovski and Olivera Gaborov Lazić, have won this year’s Heritage Heroes award for personal contribution to heritage, established by the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia and Europa Nostra Serbia as part of the European Heritage Days.
This year’s European Heritage Days were held under the theme “Guardians of Heritage: How to Revive, Preserve and Reshape It“. The winners were nominated by the Milenija and Darko Marušić Foundation (MDM) and the Women’s Architectural Society (ŽAD).
After carefully reviewing all 37 nominations, the Heritage Heroes jury reached a unanimous decision. The award recognises their outstanding and continuous contribution to the protection, preservation, interpretation and promotion of the cultural heritage of the Cerak Vinogradi neighbourhood, as well as their work in launching and developing activities that bring the local community together around the values of the place they call home.
The EU Ambassador to Serbia, Andreas von Beckerath, also highlighted their important contribution to preserving the heritage of this part of Belgrade, saying that “Kulturni Cerak shows what a small local organization can achieve when citizens take responsibility for the space they live in.“
“Their model links the preservation of urban and natural heritage with citizen participation, culture, public space and solidarity, and it can be applied in other local communities. They have also revitalised the neighbourhood’s social life. In a way, this year’s award belongs to the entire community: those who have become guardians of this heritage, bringing it to life, preserving it and reimagining it. This resonates strongly with the theme of the 2026 European Heritage Days: Heritage at Risk: Revive, Resist, Reimagine”, said von Beckerath.
Cerak Vinogradi is one of the most important achievements of late modernist housing architecture in Yugoslavia, known for the unique way it connects architecture, urban planning and the natural environment. These values are at the heart of Kulturni Cerak’s work. Through educational programmes, public events, digitising archive material, engaging with residents and taking concrete action on the ground, the association helps preserve the neighbourhood’s heritage and helps people understand it better. Their work shows that protecting cultural heritage is not only about preserving buildings, but also about creating the conditions for the community to take an active part in their preservation and future development.
By organising educational walks and workshops, markets, picnics, open-air cinema, concerts and charity events, as well as by improving green areas, sports grounds and public spaces, Kulturni Cerak connects heritage with the everyday life of local residents.
What makes their approach especially valuable is the way it combines professional expertise in architecture and urban planning with civic engagement, exchange between generations and the direct involvement of the community. The jury recognised this model as an example of a modern, living approach to protecting urban heritage and as encouragement for other local communities to take an active role in caring for the spaces they share.
“It was not an easy decision, but after a fruitful discussion it was made unanimously. The winner is an idea and a form of activism deeply rooted in neighbourly solidarity, the revival of urban culture and social life, and cultural decentralisation. Tamara Nikolić Prodić, Nađa Vujović Filipovski and Olivera Gaborov Lazić, members of the Kulturni Cerak association, have put their knowledge and skills in architecture and urban planning to work preserving the Cerak Vinogradi neighbourhood. With very few resources, they have achieved a great deal, driven by love for the place where they live. Their heroic effort deserves every possible support, including restoring the original purpose and the architectural and urban design of this unique complex, whose value has been recognised internationally,” said Dr Slavica Vujović, President of Europa Nostra Serbia and Chair of the Jury.
Milena Minja Bogavac, jury member and well-known Serbian playwright (Reflektor Theatre), said that ever since the award was established she has followed its winners and read the jury’s explanations with great interest, wanting to better understand what heritage includes and how it can remain alive, relevant and inspiring today.
“In that sense, I feel that this year’s award has really gone to the whole community, a neighbourhood that has come together around the idea of developing their area, preserving its heritage and nurturing a culture of living there. I believe Kulturni Cerak can be an important inspiration for all of us, an example of how our relationship with heritage can be built as a modern, participatory and living practice, and of how we can make life in our own neighbourhoods more meaningful and richer,” said Bogavac.
A total of 37 nominations were submitted for this year’s Heritage Heroes award, reflecting the wide range of initiatives and individuals dedicated to preserving, researching and reinterpreting heritage in Serbia. Most nominations concerned intangible cultural heritage (10), followed by research, popularisation, promotion and use of heritage (9). Other categories included literature, journalism and education (5), music (4), museology, librarianship and memorials (4), architecture and cultural landscape (3), and film and photography (2). The nominees included 17 women and 15 men, as well as two all-female and three mixed groups. Nominations came from different parts of Serbia: 24 related to central Serbia or Serbia as a whole, 10 to Vojvodina and 2 to Belgrade, while one nomination came from Kosovo*. This diversity shows that caring for heritage today goes beyond the traditional framework of protecting monuments and cultural institutions. It includes a wide range of activities, communities and individuals who preserve, interpret and revive heritage and pass it on to new generations.
This year’s jury members were:
- Dr Slavica Vujović, Chair of the Jury and President of Europa Nostra Serbia
- Sena Marić, EU Delegation to Serbia
- Dr Katarina Živanović, Europa Nostra Serbia
- Dr Dubravka Preradović, Europa Nostra Serbia
- Milena Minja Bogavac, Reflektor Theatre
- Svetlana Spajić, 2024 Heritage Heroes award winner
- Valentina Moravčević, Generalštab Ensemble, 2025 Heritage Heroes award winner
You can read the jury’s full statement of reasons HERE.
The European Heritage Days were launched by the Council of Europe in France in 1985 and, since 1999, have been a joint initiative of the European Commission and the Council of Europe. The European Heritage Days give citizens the chance to explore culture through themed events and discover the history of the people and places that have helped shape Europe’s culture and heritage.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.