EFFORTS mission is to share expertise, promote cooperation and emphasize the significance of fortified heritage as a continuing connection to our common European history and as a condition for social, economic and spatial development.The EFFORTS priorities are:• Dissemination of knowledge, internal and external• Creating the European network of fortified cities, regions, sites and of fortification organizations• Organizing access to funding and joint action opportunities for members• Working towards policy influencingThe EFFORTS vision is:Military heritage forms a special part of our cultural heritage and consequently of the collective memory of Europe. Preservation and re-use of this heritage is important because of, the special architecture and engineering; the opportunities for strengthening the intercultural and international dialogue and the local challenges in the socio-economic field after the military departed. The EFFORTS motto is: from stronghold to welcoming arms.Until now an active European network of fortified towns, forts and lines of defence was non-existent so that this specific part of heritage was insufficiently represented in a European context. EFFORTS ih here to change that!