Brussels, 06/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 1 June 2012, in Lisbon, the winners of the “Grand Prix” laureates in the 2012 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards were announced at a ceremony attended by Andoulla Vassiliou, European Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Commissioner, and Placido Domingo, the world renowned tenor and president of Europa Nostra. The six “Grand Prix” awards for 2012 are: 1) the Averof Building - School of Architecture, National Technical University, Athens, Greece; 2) Number 2 Blast Furnace, Sagunto, Spain; 3) Poundstock Gildhouse, Bude, Cornwall, UK; 4) Study on the Augusta's Botanical Code of Ara Pacis, Rome, Italy; 5) Dedicated Service to Heritage by Paraschiva Kovacs in Satu Mare, Harghita County, Romania; 6) educational programme for a heritage site developed by Norwegian Heritage Foundation, Vaga, Norway. The public's choice, made in an online survey of the 28 overall laureates for 2012, was the fortifications of Pamplona, Spain. Commissioner Vassiliou underlined the prestige attached to this competition: “The prize has proven very effective in raising awareness among decision-makers and the public about the value of cultural heritage the European society and the economy and our responsibility to protect it to future generations”. The Commissioner provided assurances that the European Commission will continue to support European cultural heritage through the current “Culture” and future “Creative Europe” programmes. (IL/transl.fl)