1.
Objectives of the Workshop
Recent
years have seen the emergence of "cultural itineraries" as a new phenomenon
raising unexpected social and economic challenges. Defined as systems
of cultural values connected with tourist and transportation infrastructure,
cultural itineraries are becoming a major factor of sustainable regional
development, the expression of hidden resources and the preservation of territories'
integrity, the promotion of cultural tourism at all levels and, ultimately,
the growth of democratic open societies. Therefore, the theme of the Workshop
are the cultural itineraries in South-Eastern Europe that promise to express
the identity, diversity and integrity of the region's cultural heritage,
and stimulate its sustainable development, co-ordinated regional politics
and opening to the common European cultural dimension.
The basis of the Workshop is the new vision for the cultural heritage,
considered as stimulus for social cohesion , regional co-operation, understanding
and consent, as well as a resource for a stable regional development. The
region of South-Eastern Europe proves out to be an excellent basis for application
of this role of the heritage: it possesses cultural heritage of extreme value,
identity and variety (46 World heritage sites being amongst), an exceptional
cultural integrity, revealing common historical roots, which could have been
a source of unity.
The
reason for the Workshop is the present state of affairs in the region
which is a cause for concern: its cultural integrity is disrupted, its common
heritage is being segmented into isolated national cultural systems and closed
to the rest of Europe and the world; there are no active trans-regional cultural
itineraries and cultural tourism; it lacks effective regional co-operation
for co-ordinated preservation and use of the cultural heritage. At the same
time, heritage has suffered seriously from economic crisis and obsolete legal
frameworks of the countries in transition, from armed and ethnic conflict.
The project therefore aims at activating the new role of heritage to overcome
the present situation.
The
tasks of the Workshop include: the establishment of concrete regional
co-operation among partners from all South-Eastern European countries regarding
the region's cultural heritage as its peoples' common patrimony; the discussion
of modern theoretical and practical principles and methods relating to the
implementation of cultural itineraries and cultural tourism, for the rational
safeguard and use of the cultural heritage; the definition of a network of
cultural itineraries in South-Eastern Europe along the major transcontinental
transport corridors; the discussion of future trends in the development of
cultural itineraries and cultural tourism in the region to promote its valuable
identity as an integral part of Europe.
The
project's context is provided by a number of international initiatives
for South-Eastern Europe and its heritage in particular:
-
The Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe
-
The Council of Europe's initiative Europe: A Common Heritage
-
The Council of Europe's Action Plan for South-Eastern Europe
- The European Heritage Days 2000
-
The ICOMOS Heritage & Risk Project
-
The Living Heritage Project of the Roi Baudouin Foundation, etc.
The
proposed Workshop has been officially recognised as a multinational project
for the purposes of the Council of Europe's Europe: A Common Heritage
initiative and the European Heritage Days, and has been endorsed by
ICOMOS.
2.
Description of the Workshop
The International Workshop in Sofia is a major milestone in the project "Cultural
Itineraries of South-Eastern Europe", carried out under the initiative of
ICOMOS/BULGARIA. Within the framework of the project a network of 40 experts
of all countries of the region has been formed, the latter being representatives
of the National ICOMOS Committees, University lecturers, experts from central
institutions for preservation of the cultural heritage, etc., amongst whom
an active communication has been established. On the basis of an uniform
methodology and common criteria, the experts have developed maps of the national
networks of the cultural itineraries, including selected monuments, historical
settlements and sites for each one of the countries of the region. ICOMOS/BULGARIA
has integrated the whole information received in an uniform electronic data-base,
visualising it using the Geographical information system (GIS), Arcview -
ESRI, version 3. The experts will have at their disposal the first version
of the map of the cultural itineraries of South-Eastern Europe before the
beginning of the Workshop. In this way permanent co-ordination and creative
relations amongst the participants are established, while the object of discussion
is specified to a maximum extent, which on its side will guarantee the effectiveness
of the forum. During the Workshop the regional and national networks of the
cultural itineraries will be presented; discussions on specified topics will
be held; the first version of the general scheme of cultural itineraries
will be accepted, as well as the final document concerning the perspectives
of the Project. The Workshop will be held within the context of the European
days of the heritage 2000 in Bulgaria (also on 16 and 17 September) dedicated
to "Cultural itineraries", in the frameworks of which the trans-frontier
fragments of the general network of cultural itineraries will be experimented,
thus providing the popularisation of the subject of the Workshop.
3.
Expected results of the Workshop
- Establishment of an active regional network of experts capable of working
in partnership on issues relating to heritage conservation and use.
-
Implementation of regional co-operation of experts from all South-Eastern
European countries in the field of cultural heritage and cultural tourism.
- Definition for the first time of the macrostructure of cultural heritage
and network of cultural itineraries for South-Eastern Europe; clarification
of their perspectives.
-
Opportunities for further regional initiatives for the heritage of South-Eastern
Europe, such as: a Guide to South-Eastern European Heritage, a common data
base of the region's heritage, a uniform heritage promotion system, co-ordinated
activities for the rescue of the endangered cultural heritage, etc.
-
Development of a basis for regional cultural tourism; improvement of the
national cultural route networks and cultural tourism systems; development
of local cultural tourism zones and structures, especially in border regions
of rich heritage.
As
long-term benefits of the Workshop could be pointed out:
-
Formation of a common regional politics of co-ordinated efforts for the preservation
and use of the cultural heritage in South-Eastern Europe;
- Nomination of a cultural itineraries in South-Eastern Europe to the list
of European Cultural Itineraries and World Heritage (such as the San Jacque
de Compostello World Heritage cultural route)
- Integration into the European cultural heritage network
-
Improvement of the legal framework for cultural heritage, tourism and regional
development
- Accelerated socio-economic development of areas rich in cultural heritage
-
New jobs in tourism, services, traditional crafts and the special conservation
industries
- New funding sources, local and international, for heritage conservation
4.
Discussion Topics:
- Principles and Methods of Developing and Implementing Cultural Itineraries
-
The Link Between Cultural Itineraries and Cultural Tourism
-
The Macrostructure of Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe and the Role
of Cultural Itineraries
- The Integration of South-Eastern European Cultural Itineraries into the
Overall European Cultural Dimension
- Immediate Tasks and Follow-Up Activities