Project Partners:
British Council in Belgrade, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, Centre Culturel Français, YUSTAT Center

Short Description:

The Cultural and Environmental Heritage in Serbia—Possibilities for Integrative Approach project forms a part of a long-term regional Program “Cultural and Environmental Heritage Fund for South East Europe” (HERITAGE- INTEGRATIVE APPROACH ) that was initiated by the British Council in Belgrade. During the initial phase of project implementation (Jan-May, 2005), an analysis of the current situation regarding the fields of conservation and presentation of cultural and environmental heritage in Serbia was carried out by a team consisting of experts from Britain and Serbia¹. The scope of the analysis was to identify both the problems and the potentials related to heritage in Serbia, to pinpoint the main aims of the Project as well as directions, modalities and areas of its realization, and to determine strategies of project implementation and its further development.

Miladin Lukic, Deputy Minister of Culture in the Government of Serbia
Silvana Hadzi-DJokic, Head of the Cultural Heritage Department, Ministry of Culture
Gordana Makovic, Director, Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia/Vesna Bizic-Omcikus, Etnographic Museum, Belgrade
Marko Omcikus, Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia
Irina Subotic, Art Historian, Academy of Arts, Novi Sad/Tatjana Cvjeticanin, Director, National Museum in Belgrade
Milica Cubrillo, director, National Tourist Organization of Serbia/ Ranko Radovic, Architect, University of Novi Sad
Zaklina Gligorijevic, Center for Urban Development Planning/ Radivoje Dinulovic, Architect, University of Novi Sad
Streten Ugricic, Director, National Library of Serbia/ Rifat Kulenovic, Industrial Archaeologist, Museum of Science and Technology, Belgrade
Jelena Kondic,  Archaeologist, National Park DJerdap/ Vukasin Pavlovic, Director, Center for Study in Cultural Development, Belgrade
Tatjana Bokan, Center for Study in Cultural Development, Belgrade/Branka Prpa, Director, The City of Belgrade Archive
Nadja Kurtovic Folic, Ph.D, Professor, Faculty of Architecture, Belgrade/ Dimitrije Vujadinovic, Balkan Cultural Cooperation ''Balkan kult''
Jovo Andjic, NGO Kulttura (Culture).

Background/Reasons to the Project Initiating in Serbia:

• lack of unified and systematic approach to development of the cultural and environmental heritage;
• insufficient involvement of private and nongovernmental sector in creating national strategy for development of the cultural and environmental, material and intangible heritage;
• obsolete and inadequate laws regulating the field of environmental protection, and conservation and presentation of the cultural and environmental heritage;
• unsatisfactory collaboration between institutions and organizations concerning conservation and promotion of the cultural and environmental, material and intangible heritage;
• standards and methods currently in use within the field of conservation and presentation of cultural and environmental, material and intangible heritage in Serbia are not harmonized with the international criteria;
• deficient dedication to educating children and teenagers of the importance and values of the cultural and environmental heritage and its preservation;
• deficiency in journalists specialized in responsible and quality informing the public of the importance of cultural and environmental heritage and its preservation;
• extremely low level of awareness regarding the importance of preservation of the cultural and environmental heritage present both in individuals, and in the society as a whole.

Main Goals of the Project:

• professional and organizational improvement of institutions and services dedicated to conservation, study, and presentation of the cultural and environmental heritage in Serbia in order to enable these institutions and services to play their role of responsible identifiers and interpreters of the heritage;
• improvement and diversification of professions related to preservation, presentation and study of the cultural and environmental, material and intangible heritage;
• initiation of collaboration between the related institutions and professionals on national level on regular basis;
• initiation of collaboration on regular basis between the related institutions and professionals on regional and wider international level;
• inclusion of related national institutions and experts in regional networks with the purpose of providing continuous transfer of knowledge, improvement of professional skills, and education;
• sensitization towards diversity as one of the main principles of an open society through learning new models of conservation and protection of the cultural and environmental heritage as deployed within the European Union both by member-states, and the Union as a whole;
• recognition of the cultural and environmental heritage values by local communities nation-wise as the best way to preserve and conserve the heritage in general;
• strong encouragement to permanent upgrading of performance and professional excellence in the abovementioned institutions.

Spheres/fields/sectors of the Project’s effectuation:

• Cultural policy
• Preservation of the environment and the environmental heritage
• Conservation and promotion of cultural heritage
• Educational system
• Cooperation among various sectors
• Legislation
• Media
• Business and industrial sector
• Urban planning
• Experts and the public in general (especially the young and the unemployed)

Levels of the Project’s effectuation:

• Authorities, institutions and organizations at republic level
• Authorities, institutions and organizations at municipal level
• Trade and business sector
• Nongovernmental sector
• The public in general (especially young population)

Project Tasks/Activities:

The project is envisaged to raise awareness of the importance of heritage both in experts and the public in general, as well as to create the platform for introducing an integrative approach to the cultural and environmental, material and intangible heritage in Serbia. The project realization entails professional support in form of providing the knowledge transfer and up-to-date experience of European experts in the relevant disciplines. Hence, the Project focuses on arranging a number of trainings for employees of those institutions and organizations that are either directly, or indirectly, related to the field of the cultural and environmental, material and intangible heritage in Serbia. For this reason, there were and will be a number of trainings, seminars, conferences and courses organized within the Project, and for the group of some 40-50 national experts in all disciplines relevant to a comprehensive and quality conservation and promotion of the cultural and environmental, material and intangible heritage.

Project Users:
Seminars/workshops/trainings/conferences organized within the project were designed to meet not only the needs of various professionals in relevant disciplines related to the field of cultural and environmental, material and intangible heritage, but also those of the public, the nongovernmental and the nonprofit sector representatives in Serbia.

Implemented Activities:

• Conference held on May 25th, 2005 had the aim of introducing results of the abovementioned analysis and strategic plan designed for the next biannual period to local experts in the field of heritage. The one-day Conference entitled “Cultural and Environmental Heritage—a Unified Approach: Necessity or Choice?” gathered more than 150 participants, experts and professionals in various sectors related to fields of conservation and presentation of the cultural and environmental, tangible and intangible heritage, as well as its strategic, developmental and economic potentials. The Conference was also utilized for the purpose of drafting the project activity plan for the May 2005-May 2006 period, which has been elaborated and extended in the meantime.

There were also two seminars held in Belgrade, which were attended by a number of heritage professionals from various institutions in Serbia:

• Project Management in Service of Development of an Integrative Approach towards the Field of Cultural and Environmental, Material and Intangible Heritage (October 18-19th 2005);
• seminar on Digitization in Service of Preservation and Presentation of the Cultural and Environmental, Material and Intangible Heritage (November 8-9th 2005).

In addition, in subsequent period we plan to organize seminars with the following themes:

• The Cultural and Environmental, Material and Intangible Heritage in Service of Development of Cultural Tourism;
• Interactive Communication in Service of Heritage Presentation;
• Management of Archaeological Sites;
• Role of the Local Community in Development of the Field of Cultural and Environmental, Material and Intangible Heritage;
•  Marketing and Public Relations;
• Role of Media in Development of Heritage