After a long process, Members of the PostEurop Stamps and Philately working group confirmed the 2023 & 2024 EUROPA stamp themes to be "Underwater Fauna & Flora" and "National Archaeological Discoveries" respectively.
An extensive internal selection and voting process took place amongst all working group members, to determine the EUROPA Stamps theme for 2023 and 2024, considering past themes, and the need to find captivating new ones. After the final votes were collected, the working group confirmed that the EUROPA theme for 2023 is “Underwater Fauna & Flora” and for EUROPA 2024 issue “National Archaeological Discoveries”.
Caring for the past, caring for the future
"The EUROPA stamp themes for coming years direct us to topics linked with nature and a material heritage of Europe. Out of the total number of 100 proposals, PostEurop Members voted for the themes of "Underwater fauna and flora" for 2023 and "National archaeological discoveries" for 2024.
The distinct themes are closely related. Water, as a crucial source of life. The very beginnings of human settlements are associated with permanent access to drinking water mostly from rivers and lakes, which, together with the coastal water, have also been a source of nourishment, culture development and way of communication and trade.
The theme of "Underwater fauna and flora”, refers to the biodiversity of Europe's waters, a central concern for PostEurop Members in 2023. Thus, EUROPA Stamps creators will dive into European freshwater bodies and regional seas to discover a wide variety of underwater species. While inland waters including streams, rivers, floodplains, lakes, swamps, are home to around 100,000 animals and plants, with more than 33,000 aquatic species living in the seas around Europe. However, the fragile structure of the underwater ecosystems suffers from overfishing, pollution and climate change. The 2023 EUROPA stamp issue will support the activities of numerous ecological authorities to preserve and protect the underwater environments for future generations.
In 2024 EUROPA stamp "National archaeological discoveries" theme will sweep us away to the very beginnings of European civilisation. We will learn the origins and development of human culture, their evolution, and human behaviour for both prehistoric and historic societies. "Layer upon layer”, we may discover treasures of archaeological excavations: from prehistoric caves and tumuli, hidden cities of Greco-Roman civilisation to secrets of medieval castles. "The unveiled material artefacts will give us a better understanding of the common roots of the European heritage. Due to scientific research, archaeologists may foresee how cultures would change and how to arrange it for the future.", said Agnieszka Trząskowska, Chair of the PostEurop Stamps & Philately Working Group.
