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Ljubljana Process – Funding Heritage Rehabilitation in South-East Europe
 Since 2003, the Council of Europe and
European Commission joint action IRPP/SAAH has made a major contribution to European heritage rehabilitation and management through the elaboration of projects in their cultural, economic and social context. The protection and reattribution to new uses of the built heritage are critical to sustainable development and underline the vital role of the heritage as a generator of social and economic capital, bringing tangible benefits to local populations, inter alia, by encouraging tourism.
Beneficiary authorities have selected
26
"Consolidated Projects" as part of the "Ljubljana Process" among the 186 emblematic monuments and sites whose rehabilitation, will have a profound and far-reaching effect in contributing to economic revival and long-term local growth. The success of these projects would serve as a model for continuing, publicly and privately-supported, dynamic regeneration of the European heritage in the region. It would also enable legislative reforms, and improvements of management procedures and professional training.
The identification of sites of all types, from ancient Roman theatres to churches and mosques; from grand public buildings to vernacular houses; from rural settlements to urban ensembles and monuments of industry, has underlined the range and quality of the region’s heritage. It represents a significant potential in focusing attention and encouraging investment on the rehabilitation of historic sites in an area experiencing political, economic and social transition. Many of these sites have already received funding, but additional action is needed to transform them into attractive cultural sites.
The "Ljubljana Process" will be focused on a certain number of strategic objectives accompanied by a wide awareness-raising and information campaign on the economic value of the heritage and its role in sustainable local development. The
"Ljubljana Process" will comprise a series of concrete actions during the period 2008-10:
technical / professional activities to complete the
"Consolidated projects" in each beneficiary country/region;
support for the elaboration by the beneficiaries of scientific and institutional conditions allowing the implementation of the fund-raising activities;
consolidation of the political, institutional and professional conditions for future public/private investments;
implementation of a regional rehabilitation project management strategy, enabling the examination of the feasibility of finding new uses for historic buildings, preserving and enhancing archaeological sites, identifying the economic value of the heritage, and mobilising national resources (in synergy with the European Commission programmes);
overseeing of implementation conditions of the rehabilitation projects;
strengthening of skills with professional training activities that will be of direct benefit to restoration / rehabilitation specialists, including managers and craftsmen, with the support of
"training sites";
provision of legal or technical assistance for the beneficiaries developing the IRPP/SAAH long-term methodology with the involvement of specialised NGOs;
the continuation of the annual "Plaques Project" labelling rehabilitation projects on monuments and sites identified as priorities;
publicising the Ljubljana Process through specific and regular events, nationally and internationally; raising public awareness and promoting education.
The comprehensive process described above should make a valuable contribution to institutionalised regional co-operation that will strengthen regional fora, increase cultural policy-setting capacity, and promote the notion of social and economic sustainable development, inter alia, through the enhancement of cultural and natural heritage.
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