Romania’s ASTRA Center Honored with European Heritage Award for Excellence in Education and Traditional Crafts
Sibiu, The Gulf Observer: The ASTRA Center for Activities and Regional Resources, located in a restored medieval guildhall in the heart of Sibiu, has been named one of the winners of the 2025 European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards in the prestigious Education, Training and Skills category. The recognition highlights the center’s outstanding contribution to heritage preservation through education, craft professionalization, and community engagement.
Described as having set “a national precedent for recognizing traditional crafts, professionalizing artisans, and linking heritage, education, and community resilience,” the ASTRA Center stands as a model of innovation and impact within the heritage sector.
The center is housed in the 14th-century House of Arts, a historic guildhall that has been carefully restored and repurposed. Today, over 80% of the building is accessible to the public, offering spaces for exhibitions, maker activities, vocational education, and commerce. This transformation has established a robust infrastructure for safeguarding and transmitting traditional craft knowledge.
Through a specialized curriculum, the center has professionally certified more than 90 craftspeople in areas such as traditional construction, woodwork, and manual carpentry. The certification program also incorporates training in entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and marketing. As a result, three certified artisans have already launched businesses that employ fellow craftsmen. The certification model is now attracting interest from other open-air museums across Europe looking to replicate its success.
According to the jury of the European Heritage Awards, “The official certification scheme, developed as part of this project, marks a significant advance in formalizing standards of traditional craftsmanship, and the educational activities are empowering local building owners to repair their own heritage.”
The jury also praised the center’s alignment with national heritage policy and the ASTRA Museum’s expanded role in community development, stating: “By responding to national heritage policy recommendations and expanding the ASTRA Museum’s role into practical training and community engagement, the ASTRA Center demonstrates its wider economic and sector impact.”
Managed by the ASTRA Museum, Sibiu’s renowned open-air ethnographic institution, the project was developed in collaboration with Museene i Sør Trøndelag (Norway) and Future Capital (Romania). It was financed by the EEA and Norway Grants, with additional support from the Romanian Government and the Sibiu County Council.
The 2025 awards edition received 251 eligible applications, reviewed by a jury of 11 heritage experts from across Europe.
The public now has the opportunity to support their favorite laureates by voting online for the Public Choice Award 2025, with voting open until September 12.
All winners will be celebrated at the European Heritage Awards Ceremony on October 13, 2025, held at Flagey, a landmark Art Deco venue in Brussels, Belgium. The event will also announce the Grand Prix laureates and the Public Choice Award winner, each of whom will receive a prize of EUR 10,000.
