Young people from 8 Balkan countries met in Prespa for the activities of the 1st Capacity Building Co-Creation Camp for the Western Balkans, organized by the HELLENIC SOCIETY for the Environment and Culture (ELLET) at its Environmental Station in Mikrolimni Prespa, within the framework of the Europa Nostra Athens Heritage Hub (ENAHH).
The Europa Nostra Athens Heritage Hub was established in May 2022 as a result of the partnership between the Municipality of Athens, Europa Nostra, and ELLET for the protection and promotion of cultural heritage in the broader region of Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. On October 10, 2022, it welcomed the Youth Special Task Force for the Balkans in Prespa for a week of workshops and cultural visits in the area. The team was established by ELLET, in its capacity as manager of the ENAHH. Eight young professionals, researchers, and artists collaborated with the aim of co-creating a series of educational, research, and training activities, based on the unique characteristics of the natural and cultural heritage of the Western Balkans and the needs of the local civil society.
The young representatives from 8 Balkan countries (Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia) worked together on a new, hybrid, and innovative program by ELLET, which involves the active engagement of youth in the field of cultural heritage, aiming to formulate comprehensive proposals for 4 actions. Using Prespa—a unique example of shared natural and cultural heritage—as an incubator for cultural innovation, and through interaction with the field and the local community, they identified challenges and opportunities for transferring and implementing the actions in other countries, thereby creating a blueprint/action plan for the entire Southeast Europe.
The proposed actions include the digital mapping of the natural, cultural, and intangible heritage in the Prespa region through synergies between administration, organizations, and local communities, as well as the gradual development of a repetitive, interdisciplinary, and dynamic method for designing educational and training activities. This method is based on field research conducted through workshops and university research programs. A key component of the proposals is the active involvement and participation of civil society in both the research and the workshops and other related activities. The proposals of the Youth Special Task Force for the Balkans will be promoted for adaptation, finalization, and funding to local, national, European, and international bodies, institutions, and organizations, so they can gradually be implemented.
ENAHH intends to apply the same program in the rest of the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Participants in the 1st Capacity Building Co-Creation Camp for the Western Balkans were: Elena-Maria Cautiş (Romania), Armando Dervishi (Albania), Medina Fazlic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Giorgos Mertzanidis (Greece), Jasna Popovic (Serbia), David Radovic (Montenegro), Firote Rexhepi (Kosovo*).
*Designation without prejudice to the status and in accordance with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
Special thanks for their substantial contribution to the implementation of the workshop: Andromachi S. Skreka, Head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kastoria, Andreas N. Tsokas, archaeologist at the Ephorate of Antiquities of Florina and head of the Department of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Antiquities, Panagiotis Paschalidis, Mayor of Prespa, Giorgos Stergiou, Deputy Mayor of Prespa, Michalis Petrakos, General Secretary of the Municipality of Prespa, Triantafyllia Gogou, Deputy Head of the Management Unit of the Prespa National Park & Protected Areas of Western Macedonia, Natural Environment and Climate Change Organization (OFYPEKA), Eleni Solaki, Communication Officer at the Society for the Protection of Prespa, Kyriakos Poukamisas & Polyxeni Anastasiadou, residents of Mikrolimni Prespa, Vangelis Vasilopoulos, local manager at Prespa Resort & Spa, Angeliki Katsanidou, resident of Lefkona Prespa, Nikos Marmaridis, member of the Social Cooperative Enterprise Nature and Culture, Giorgos Paraskevopoulos, resident of Agios Achilleios.
ABOUT THE EUROPA NOSTRA ATHENS HERITAGE HUB
The Europa Nostra Athens Heritage Hub is a dynamic partnership of distinct importance for the city of Athens, comprising Europa Nostra – the pan-European federation of cultural heritage organizations, the HELLENIC SOCIETY for the Environment and Culture (ELLET), and the Municipality of Athens, inaugurated in May 2022. By decision of the federation – headquartered in The Hague – Athens, after Krakow, became the second city in Europe to establish a Heritage Hub, enhancing and solidifying Greece’s presence in the field of cultural heritage protection and promotion. ELLET was chosen by Europa Nostra to coordinate, manage, and represent the Hub in the broader region of Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The role of the Athens Heritage Hub is to develop and strengthen the federation’s activities in this part of Europe, similar to the Krakow Hub in Central and Northeastern Europe, and to engage civil society organizations in the protection of European heritage.
Simultaneously, the Hub reinforces the role of the Greek capital as a leading European center in the field of cultural heritage conservation and the implementation of the UNESCO Convention.
For more information, contact the offices of the HELLENIC SOCIETY for the Environment & Culture: Ms. K. Stempili Tel: 210 – 32 25 245 & 210 – 32 26 693 / E-mail: sepi@ellinikietairia.gr / www.ellet.gr