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European Heritage Award 2010 Celebrating Excellence awarded to The Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Regional Cultural and Natural Heritage Programme for South Eastern Europe

Integrated Rehabilitation Project Plan/Assessment of Architectural and Archaeological Heritage (IRPP/SAAH)



Details of the Sites Evaluation Mission

 

 

INTRODUCTION

The Integrated Rehabilitation Project Plan/Survey of the Architectural and Archaeological Heritage (IRPP/SAAH) is a joint European Commission (EC) and Council of Europe (CoE) project. The programme was launched in 2003 and is due for completion in November 2010. With effect from 2011, the project will become the Ljubljana Process II.

The participating countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Rumania, Serbia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Kosovo.

The Ljubljana Process – Funding Heritage Rehabilitation in South East Europe (the final phase of IRPP/SAAH), which was launched in May 2008 while the Republic of Slovenia held the presidency of the European Union, was aimed in particular at publicizing rehabilitation projects and enhancing the impact of IRPP/SAAH.

More than 80% of the 186 monuments and sites in South East Europe on the Priority Intervention List (PIL) are receiving additional funds for rehabilitation.

The City Hall (National and University Library) in Sarajevo and the Town Hall in Bosanski Novi/Novi Grad have been allocated funds from European Union Pre-Accession Funds. The allocation of Pre-Accession Funds, along with additional funds from the countries’ budgets and international funds, is evidence of the significant social and economic dimension of the heritage in contributing to local development and the development of tourism.

Thus far, of all the participating countries in South East Europe, Bosnia and Herzegovina has achieved the best results in the implementation of the project.

 

SITES EVALUATION MISSION

The Council of Europe is holding a Sites Evaluation Mission in each participating country. The mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina took place from 24 to 28 May 2010, with Barbara Foragasi as evaluator.  The Sites Evaluation highlighted the importance of an integrated approach to heritage management and the results achieved, and has given a boost to current rehabilitation projects as well as strengthening cooperation tools.

The Sites Evaluation Mission is being conducted by Belgium’s Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (RLICC).

The purpose of the Sites Evaluation is to gather detailed information on the rehabilitation projects, by evaluating the effectiveness of the IRPP/SAAH project methodology, the practical impact of the process in improvements to management implementation, and future use of the selected monuments.

In addition to the contributions to be documented in the final report on the IRPP/SAAH activities, the results of the Sites Evaluation should:

-       help to update the Heritage Survey Reports;

-       supplement the Heritage Survey Reports for specific cases;

-       monitor the allocation of Plaques with a view to updating the list of awards for 2010 and establishing a Plaques List (the Plaques are allocated to the most successful examples of preservation of monuments);

-       establishing a monitoring system designed to ensure the successful development of the project, which has evolved into the Ljubljana Process II, to be implemented with effect from 2011.

 

It is not the purpose of the mission to visit all the sites on the Priority Intervention List (PIL), but to concentrate on monuments of particular significance for the Project.

Five of the twenty monuments on the Priority Intervention List for Bosnia and Herzegovina have been selected for site evaluation:

-       City Hall (National and University Library) in Sarajevo;

-       Aladža Mosque in Foča;

-       Mehmed pasha Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad;

-       St Nicholas’ Church in Trijebanj near Stolac;

-       Monastery church in Vozuća near Zavidovići.

 

These monuments are known as “privileged mission monuments,” since they meet the prescribed criteria:

-       a Business Plan has been drawn up for each monument:

Consolidated Projects: City Hall (National and University Library) in Sarajevo and Aladža Mosque in Foča are earmarked for rehabilitation, and business plans have been drawn up;

-       a Preliminary Technical Assessment (PTA) has been carried out for each monument:

PTAs for the Mehmed pasha Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad, St Nicholas’ Church in Trijebanj and the monastery church in Vozuća near Zavidovići have been used to raise funds for their rehabilitation. Experts from the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, heritage protection institutes and other experts worked on the drafting of the PTAs;

-       the rehabilitation of the monuments has been publicized and the projects have been allocated funds for rehabilitation works from public funds at home and/or international funds.

 

The City Hall (National and University Library) in Sarajevo was inscribed on the Priority Intervention List in 2003.

As part of the IRPP/SAAH project, work on drafting the various documents – the Preliminary Technical Assessment, Feasibility Study and Rehabilitation Business Plan – was carried out by experts from the Commission and the Cantonal institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Sarajevo, together with other experts. Through the Ljubljana Process, part of the required rehabilitation funds has been raised from European Union Pre-Accession Funds. The City Hall is also an example of successful management of a rehabilitation project. The Sarajevo City Authority has been running the rehabilitation project and the work of the coordinating body since 2003. The coordinating body consists of representatives of all relevant institutions. Separate technical teams have been set up for the various stages of the project, such as the public procurements procedure and the selection of bids from works contractors. As part of the activities designed to publicize the case of the City Hall in Sarajevo, the property was inscribed on the List of the World’s 100 Most Endangered Monuments (MWL) in 2008.

The rehabilitation project has been put forward for inscription as “best practice” for the Plaques List for 2010, run by the Council of Europe.

The Aladža Mosque in Foča was added to the Priority Intervention List in 2003.

As part of the IRPP/SAAH project, work on drafting the various documents – the Preliminary Technical Assessment, Feasibility Study and Rehabilitation Business Plan – was carried out by experts from the Commission and the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport, together with other experts. 

In response to an application by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, the US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation provided the funds for a project to protect the remains and foundations of the architectural ensemble in 2006. An important part of the project activities was awareness-raising, particularly among young people, of the importance of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s cultural heritage. This aspect of the activities is entitled “My Bosnia and Herzegovina – My Heritage.” The target group is primary school pupils. The activities included giving lessons on the heritage in primary schools, visits to monuments in Foča, holding competitions for the children’s essays and art works, with exhibitions and presentations of the children’s entries, and organizing get-togethers for the children in the Secondary School Centre in Foča. Cooperation with universities took the form of the Commission’s hiring final-year architecture students to survey the fragments and foundations of the mosque and to prepare the exhibition of the children’s competition entries.

In 2008, as part of the Ljubljana Process, the Aladža Mosque was put forward as one of the three priorities for rehabilitation of the “consolidated projects” for which a business plan has been drawn up.

The rehabilitation project plan was funded by the IRCICA Centre (Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture). The US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation allocated funds to the Commission to Preserve National Monuments to mark, symbolically, the start of reconstruction works in 2009/2010, with the aim of attracting private and public funds and grants for the continuation of the works until the monument has been fully rehabilitated. The rehabilitation project for the Aladža Mosque in Foča will continue to be put forward as a consolidated project in 2010 through the Ljubljana Process.

The Mehmed pasha Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad was added to the Priority Intervention List in 2003.

As part of the IRPP/SAAH project, work on drafting the various documents – the Preliminary Technical Assessment, Feasibility Study and Rehabilitation Business Plan – was carried out by experts from the Commission and specialists in stone, bridge-building and historic buildings and structures. The Preliminary Technical Assessment formed the basis for the Government of the Republic of Turkey to provide the funds for investigative works and for the restoration of the bridge, with the project conducted by TIKA (the Turkish International Development Agency). An agreement on cooperation was signed by TIKA, the Commission to Preserve National Monuments and Višegrad Municipality in 2008. Following the investigative works, which were carried out in 2006, the restoration project was drawn up in 2009 (Directorate of the Ministry of Transport and Communications – KGM). In 2010 an agreement on cooperation on the restoration of the Bridge was signed by TIKA, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Culture of RS and Višegrad Municipality.

The Mehmed pasha Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad was inscribed on the List of the World’s 100 Most Endangered Monuments (MWL) in 2006, and on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007. A Management Plan was drawn up for the Bridge as part of the nomination for inscription on the World Heritage List, and was adopted by Višegrad Municipal Council in late 2006. The Bridge Commission, consisting of representatives of institutions responsible for heritage management, was set up in 2007.

The rehabilitation project has been put forward for inscription as “best practice” for the Plaques List for 2010, run by the Council of Europe.

St Nicholas’ Church in Trijebanj near Stolac was added to the Priority Intervention List in 2003.

In response to an application by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, the US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation provided the funds for a project to protect the remains of the church in 2007. The Commission engaged experts in the conservation of frescoes from the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of RS. An important part of the project activities was awareness-raising, particularly among young people, of the importance of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s cultural heritage. This aspect of the activities is entitled “My Bosnia and Herzegovina – My Heritage.” The target group is primary school pupils. The activities included giving lessons on the heritage in primary schools, visits to monuments in Stolac, holding competitions for the children’s essays and art works, with exhibitions and presentations of the children’s entries, and organizing get-togethers for the children in Stolac.  Cooperation with universities took the form of the Commission’s hiring final-year architecture students to survey the fragments and foundations of the church and to prepare the exhibition of the children’s competition entries.

The design of the restoration project for the church was denoted by the Commission. In 2008, the Ministry of Regional Planning of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina provided the funds required for the full rehabilitation of the church. The project was approved, and the restoration works are due to begin in 2010.

The monastery church in Vozuća near Zavidovići was added to the Priority Intervention List in 2003, and deleted from the list in 2007, following the successful restoration of the property. During the project, work on drafting the Preliminary Technical Assessment was carried out by experts from the Commission and the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport. The Institute also designed the restoration project. The restoration of the monument was funded by the Government of the Federation of BiH and the Government of the Republic of Germany, and conducted jointly by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments and the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport in 2007. 

The project is an example of best practice for the rehabilitation of monuments on the Priority Intervention List.

 

PROJECT IMPACT INDICATORS

The Site Evaluation Mission conducted by the Council of Europe should confirm that at least one of the following impacts has been achieved by the IRPP/SAAH project: 

i.          Political impact: the project has received broad-based political support and recognition of the fundamental importance of the cultural heritage.

ii.          Institutional: the project has led to the adoption of new methodological tools and improved cultural heritage management practice.

iii.         Social: the project has resulted in enhanced participation by local communities, creating the opportunities that derive from a sense of responsibility for the cultural heritage.

iv.         Economic: the project has contributed to the recognition of the economic value of the heritage as an investment opportunity and stimulus for the tourism industry.

v.         Collaborative: the project has improved international, national, regional and local cooperation and partnership.

vi.         Sustainable development: the project has contributed to the recognition of the role of the heritage in sustainable development and democratic participation.

vii.        Site significance: the project has raised the profile of the site alongside the recognition of its social and economic value.

viii.       Financial: the project has attracted funds for the rehabilitation of monuments.

 

CONCLUSIONS

In 2004, at their respective sessions, the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Resolution 01-011-1662-20/04, Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 58th session, 13 October 2004) and the Council of Ministers (Resolution 06-07-1570/43-04, Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 69th session, 16 November 2004) considered the project progress reports and adopted resolutions supporting the project activities and urging all the institutions and authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to integrate the results of the project into their own developments strategies; they also called upon the entity and local authorities and institutions to provide the financial and technical conditions for the implementation of the project.

In 2009 the Council of Ministers (Resolution 05-07-2954-32/09, Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 99th session, 24 September 2009) adopted certain resolutions supporting the continuation of the project and the incorporation of its results into strategic documents, and calling for co-funding from the entity budgets. One of the decisions of the Council of Ministers was that an advisory body should be formed.

All five selected monuments to be the subject of the Council of Europe, which are at various stages of implementation, are successful examples of cooperation between institutions at home, local communities and international bodies. The documentation created during the project – the Priority Intervention List, Preliminary Technical Assessments, Feasibility Studies and Business Plans – have been used to raise funds from public funds at home and from international funds, and rehabilitation works are under way. Thanks to the IRPP/SAAH project, the focus is on the rehabilitation and promotion of the selected monuments.

The activities carried out as part of the project have demonstrated that the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina take seriously the use of heritage protection and management methodologies and tools (the Priority Intervention List, Preliminary Technical Assessments, Feasibility Studies and Business Plans) which are applied in European Union countries, and have also shown that local communities and the owners of the properties are willing to support the rehabilitation projects.

 

Enc. 2: Questionnaire

 

INTRODUCTION

The Integrated Rehabilitation Project Plan/Survey of the Architectural and Archaeological Heritage (IRPP/SAAH) is a joint initiative of the European Commission (EC) and the Council of Europe (CoE) in South-East Europe. Begun in 2003, it will end in November 2010, underlining the importance of an integrated approach to heritage management. A comprehensive evaluation should take into account the considerable steps forward achieved in participating countries and the new opportunities to be used in order to sustain the ongoing projects into major tools of co-operation in the region.

Several professionals have been involved in the implementation of the IRPP/SAAH within the ministries, heritage institutions, from the local community etc. As one of them, you are invited to contribute to the evaluation of the project by kindly responding to the following questions.

 

IRPP/SAAH STAKEHOLDERS REPORT

Name (and data):

Function:

PIL project number (state a monument: City Hall (National and University Library) in Sarajevo; Aladža mosque in Foča; Bridge Mehmed pasha Sokolović in Višegrad; Orthodox church st. Nikola in Trijebanj, Stolac; or Monastery church in Vozuća, Zavidovići):

  1. Are you aware that the monument/site is involved in a European initiative, called Integrated Rehabilitation Project Plan / Survey of the Architectural and Archaeological Heritage? What do you know about this project?
  2. Do you believe that there is enough funding allocated to the rehabilitation of cultural heritage, or should it be better funded by the Ministry? 
  3. Do you think that professionals working in the field of cultural heritage are sufficiently skilled or is there need for professional training? In what form could you imagine this?
  4. Have you gained new knowledge, skills, tools or any other benefits for your own professional practice from this project? Was it in your interest to participate in it? Please elaborate.
  5. Do you consider that the work currently being carried out or is proposed for the site commands widespread support from local political leaders and the community?
  6. Do you see educational benefits from restoring and interpreting the site? If so, at which level are these benefits most apparent (e.g., school, college, adult education etc)? 
  7. Do you believe that heritage has an economic value, it is thus an investment opportunity and a spur to tourism? Do you know of a particular site that attracted investors thanks to the rehabilitation project?
  8. Have you fostered or do you know of new forms of collaboration as a result of this project - between national/local authorities/funding agencies/NGOs/schools/other countries?
  9. Do you believe that restoring the monument/site is bringing or could bring forth economic benefits, increased tourism, create job opportunities and generate local community development?
  10. Do you think that the monument/site is better known to locals and visitors now than before? If yes, what has induced this increased visibility?

 

Enc. 3: Information on the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (RLICC)

 

The Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (RLICC) offers a Master of Conservation of Monuments and Sites degree programme in association with the Engineering Faculty of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. The Centre was founded by Professor Raymond Lemaire in 1976 on the initiative of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). The RLICC jointly set up the Department of Architecture, Urbanism and Regional Planning and the Department of Civil Engineering.

The RLICC has thirty years’ experience in training, research and consultancy on the preservation of the built heritage. Its founder, Professor Lemaire, was co-author of the 1964 Venice Charter, which established the doctrine of the conservation of the built and urban heritage, and a leading advisor to the European Union, the Council of Europe, and UNESCO. He founded the Centre to stimulate interest in the preservation of the cultural heritage world-wide through inter-disciplinary training, with a view to the long-term integration of the heritage into the society of today and the generations of tomorrow. The Centre was later named after him. Six hundred students have already graduated from the RLICC, many of whom occupy senior positions in national and international heritage organizations, run their own consultancy services, or work in the public sector on heritage preservation.

The multidisciplinary teaching staff is composed of more than 30 invited guest lecturers, in addition to the expertise of the K.U.Leuven faculty. The president of the RLICC is Prof. Architect Andrea Bruno. A renowned conservation architect, with an architectural office in Torino (Italy), he is an important international experience, and has worked as adviser to UNESCO flagship projects in Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The first academic year of the international, interdisciplinary Master of Conservation of Monuments and Site degree programme is primarily devoted to theoretical courses and seminars and to project work. The second year is devoted mainly to the preparation of the Master’s thesis, based on individual research work in the field of the conservation, with additional professional activities such as practical experience in heritage work. The programme is being constantly developed in close collaboration with international organizations, such as the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, World Monuments Fund, the Getty Conservation Institute, English Heritage, and the Technology University of Aachen.

 

 



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