Participants of the third workshop gather in Gjirokastra.
After Mirdita and Shkodra, the Dialogues for Spaç project took the working group to the region of Gjirokastra for the third and final workshop of the process. This workshop was aimed at proposing an action plan or a set of actions/activities/projects, following the documentation (workshop I) and strategic visioning (workshop II) processes, which the participants went through earlier this year.
The main three objectives that underpinned the proposals were:
- Education. Interpretation and public outreach
- Improvement of existing buildings and infrastructure
- Definition of legal framework, management and strategic approaches.
For each objective a set of priorities were discussed and agreed by the participants. Examples included the integration of the history of the former prison of Spaç in textbooks (Objective 1); the restoration/reconstruction of key spaces (cells, main entrance, fences, watchtowers, mine galleries) and their interconnection in a itinerary suitable for visitors (Objective 2); the organization of a donor conference for fundraising in order to implement the identified priorities (Objective 3).
Besides the theoretical part, the working group had the opportunity to visit some of the region’s landmarks of Communist-era heritage, such as the nuclear shelter tunnels in Gjirokastra, the former forced labor camp of Tepelena and the “7 windows” prison in the castle of Gjirokastra.
The working group is currently working on formulating the action plan. For the next step, the action plan will be finalized after a public consultation process that will be launched soon.
If you would like to express your thought on the actions/activities/projects that can be implemented in the framework of Spaç’s musealisation, please follow us on spacdialog.org for the details about the public consultation.
UPDATE: Click here to download the full report from the third workshop, including the ‘Action Plan for Spaç’. The public consultation period will begin next week. More information to follow shortly.
This project is implemented by CHwB and supported by Sweden and the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.