Cultural Heritage without Borders Kosovo 2016-2022

For over 20 years, CHwB has been working in Kosovo, Albania, BosniaHerzegovina, Serbia and received a longterm support by Sida. In 2015, the CHwB branch in Kosovo together with the branches in Albania and Bosnia Herzegovina became independent as local organizations. Their connection with the Swedish Foundation for Cultural Heritage without Borders is continuing through theirs representation into the international board of CHwB. The CHwB Kosovo, after 20 years of work, has created experience and human capacities that are prepared to deal with the challenges of the cultural heritage sector. The total budget of the core support to CHwB Kosovo covering activities during 2016-2022 was 27,6 MSEK. The implementation of the Strategic Plan 2016-2022 resulted in many positive achievements such as: - The newly created Regional Council of Cultural Heritage West, has taken a leading role on monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan for Development of the Economic Region West through Cultural Heritage 2020-2023. Six heritage sites for each municipality are restored and cofunded by the respective municipalities. In paralel two joint projects were implemented, 'In pursuit of the flavor' and 'Establishing a regional brand for the western economic region based on common values of cultural heritage'. The brand aims to serve as a guarantee and quality certified with the significant importance for services and products offered by this region. - The first crossborder project funded by the Instrument for PreAccession program supported three border municipalities in Kosovo and three in North Macedonia for creation of priority lists of projects for Cultural Heritage accompanied by the restoration of six Cultural Heritage sites. All the work is done in inclusive, transparent, and participatory process. The second crossborder project 'Cultural Route on the Trail of Mother Teresa' resulted with the restoration of Mother Teresa Museum in Prizren, the complex in front of the Catholic Church of Letnica and Monastery Church of St. Panteleimon in North Macedonia, by improving the accessibility of sites, opening of the mountain trail and the signage of the route. - The established GërrGërr CoCreation Platform in partnership with ILUCIDARE implemented some interesting activities: Preserving Traditional Albanian Gastronomy From North to South (Master class), Digitization of Mother Teresa Museum, Integrating Traditional Knowledge with the Fashion Industry, and others. - Heritage Space (HS) Platform is organized on annual basis starting from 2016. The selected small projects of the HS are about using oral history, film/video, animation, illustration, digital arts, archiving, digitization, documentation, photography, research, writing, interpretation, digital cultural heritage, web development, translation, graphic design, publishing, sculpture, workshops. All projects are promoted for awareness raising about the potential of cultural heritage and enabled the creators to showcase their work. - Through the years CHwB Kosovo continued with restoration of key vernacular heritage assets in Kosovo, such as stone houses (Kullas) and watermills co-founded by beneficiary municipalities. All interventions were carried out by using traditional techniques and local workmanship. - Each year CHwB Kosovo organized Heritage Labs Adaptive Reuse Camps. Three of these camps were held in Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro, and focused on digital mapping tools and database creation for vernacularbuilt heritage/Kullas, reuse of these structures, research on intangible heritage in the region with Kulla houses. Another edition of the Heritage Lab took place at Pristinas Clock tower, where students and young practitioners had the chance to learn about the traditional building techniques and materials in restoration. - The research project "Creative and rural Kosovo" was completed during 2021. The aim of this project is to conduct a thorough research in 50 villages of Kosovo that were selected due to their significance based on cultural and natural heritage attributes, proximity to national and regional roads, main cities, and attractions. It will give recommendations in the future development of the villages, based on their main attributes. This document is presented to the Ministry of Culture for possible funding or cofunding with donors. - The Cultural Heritage as a Human Right component is mainstreamed to improve the access to cultural heritage sites regardless of age, gender, religion, physical or intellectual abilities. In collaboration with the Balkan Sunflowers, CHwB Kosovo implemented activities for learning centers of Fushe Kosova, Obiliq and Shtime so that children of RAE communities can visit and learn from culture heritage sites. This has been perceived as an unforgettable experience. The RAE community has also established of The Cultural Forum of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities for identification of tangible and intangible heritage that is oriented towards traditions or living expressions.- - The mission of CHwB Kosovo is to promote cultural heritage as both a right and a resource. CHwB works with civil society and institutions at all levels to strengthen peace building, sustainable socioeconomic and democratic development and the realisation of human rights. CHwB Kosovo is dedicated to promoting the preservation of cultural heritage in areas where the significant cultural heritage is endangered because of economic, social, or political factors. The organization has worked in three directions from 2016 to 2022: the vibrancy of the community and accountability of duty bearers, fostering territorial synergies for economic cooperation and development, and being the voice of cultural heritage. - The first direction of CHwB Kosovo's work is to strengthen the vibrancy of the community and accountability of duty bearers. The organization is focused on creating the conditions for civil society organizations to participate in decisionmaking and increasing public involvement in heritage topics. Through CHwB's efforts, many NGOs have been given the opportunity to be part of the forums, councils, and bodies where cultural heritage is debated. In addition, different communities are given the opportunity to access and enjoy their cultural heritage. - The second direction of CHwB Kosovo's work is to foster territorial synergies for economic cooperation and development. Within this component, the objective is to consider cultural heritage in the context of the territory, in the role that it can have to improve people's lives. Through international experience combined with local participation, the aim is to increase the impact of local development cultures. The dialogue between stakeholders is increased, and regional cooperation is enhanced. In addition, CHwB Kosovo has established a strong interconnection between the creative industry and cultural heritage. - The third direction of CHwB Kosovo's work is to be the voice of cultural heritage. The great richness in heritage, which exists in Kosovo, is in danger of disappearing. CHwB Kosovo aims to change this trend, as there is a lack of perception within communities of what constitutes the historic environment and therefore a lack of awareness of the value of heritage. The organization's focus remains at promoting debate on cultural heritage, empowerment of small groups, support for public initiatives, and causes. In addition, CHwB Kosovo is accepted at the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), which is one of the important councils for the preservation of monuments on the World Heritage List (UNESCO). CHwB staff is now part of the Kosovo Tourism Council, the body appointed by the Prime Minister. - The crosscutting aspect of CHwB Kosovo's work is related to enhancing gender quality with a focus on empowering women's participation both within the organization and in the work context. Vulnerable communities are provided with free access to heritage sites while children have been visiting other communities' heritage sites. The environmental degradation challenge has been responded to with adaptive reuse of historical buildings. This approach is known as "the embodied energy," which is a measure that reduces the CO2 emissions of lowincome countries.

This intervention is in the form of core support to the CHwB Kosovo for implementation of the Strategic Plan 2018-2022 of CHwB Kosovo. CHwB's overall goal is to create conditions and opportunities for the enjoyment of cultural freedom and cultural diversity and for cultural heritage to be increasingly used as a tool to promote human rights, peace-building and democratic development. Impact 1: Culture for Growth To create an environment where the community will become the main administrator of change and foster a sustainable economic growth through culture and cultural heritage in Kosovo and in the region. Impact 2: Culture for Creativity Culture for Creativity known as Heritage Space (HS) supports the creation and development of clusters for various niches in the Creative Industries in relation to cultural heritage. HS is designed to facilitate the creation of support platforms that will provide targeted fields to accelerate sector growth and help creative individuals/groups to improve their product and take their creative ideas to market. Impact 3: Adaptive Reuse The Adaptive Reuse is a series of measures and actions to be undertaken for documentation, restoration and reuse of the monuments. It ensures that building is preserved using the traditional techniques and materials, applied by local community. ARB aims to use restoration as a tool to achieve another goal- reutilization of cultural heritage sites. Impact 4: CHwB Kosovo - voice of cultural heritage in Kosovo CHwB Kosovo is the legacy of Swedish Foundation of CHwB. As such, it aims to remain as significant and credible voice of protection and promotion of cultural heritage in Kosovo, as a public common good belonging to all communities. Impact 5: Heritage as Human Right The right of access to and enjoyment of cultural heritage is a human right guaranteed by international law, and it must be taken seriously.