‘Cultural Heritage without Borders’ Regional Restoration Camps

CHwB (Cultural Heritage without Borders) Regional Restoration Camps are part of a Balkans-wide push to encourage people to value and care for their local heritage. They represent a simple and successful training model which has grown, over the past seven years, from a few students in Albania to multiple sessions in four countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia) with participants from a further eighteen countries. The aims are to use cultural heritage to build relations among young professionals, creating conditions for reconciliation as a prerequisite for peace and democracy, as well as to preserve traditional crafts and techniques.

Over the course of two weeks, participants follow a rigorous but fulfilling schedule, combining theory – through lectures and presentations from conservators and academics – with hands-on restoration work on historic monuments. Each such intervention directly helps local residents by repairing their valuable buildings with the use of traditional materials and techniques and providing new ways of understanding and revitalizing them: substantial benefits to both community and the environment.

“The Jury especially admired the sustained success of this project in providing practical training for young professionals and inter-regional networking opportunities. This success has been proven: since 2007, 370 participants from 19 countries have taken part in a succession of intensive, well-organised two-week camps in the Balkan region. The jury appreciated the involvement of master craftspeople and academic teachers from local and international institutions in providing this valuable learning environment.”

More information
chwb.org/albania/activities/rrc