
Antigoni Michael
Antigoni Michael is a Cultural Heritage Specialist, focusing on community engagement for reconciliation in conflict zones. Coming from the conflict zone of Cyprus herself, and from two religious communities - half Maronite and half Orthodox - she believes that heritage can be a tool to promote coexistence in multi-ethnic environments. In 2015 she completed her bachelor’s in History and Archaeology at the University of Cyprus. Then she obtained her master’s degree at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in Archaeology: Landscape and Heritage. In 2020 she completed training as a tour guide at the Deputy Ministry of Tourism in Cyprus. From 2017-2022 she has been living in Cyprus, collaborating with various organisations such as UNDP in Cyprus and Home for Cooperation to safeguard Cultural heritage and promote coexistence on the island. In 2021 she was nominated as a European Heritage Youth Ambassador by Europa Nostra, the European Students’ Association for Cultural Heritage and European Heritage Tribune. Since 2022 she moved to Brussels, as a Blue Book Trainee for DG EAC at the European Commission. She has recently joined the Staff of Europa Nostra as Coordinator of the 7 Most Endangered Programme. Her approach to community engagement is bottom–up, giving the opportunity to the wider community to exchange on matters of heritage and move towards the humanisation of the other community and preservation of heritage. She achieves this through various narratives, digital communication, collaborations with artists’ communities, border-crossing tours, and conferences.