From 12th to 26th July 2014, the Foundation Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB) will hold a Regional Restoration Camp on Pliva Lakes, in Jajce municipality.
At this year’s camp, over 40 students (of architecture, archaeology, art history and related disciplines) and representatives of civil society and young professionals from Greece, Bosnia, Serbia, Romania, Albania, Kosovo and Croatia will participate. During the camp, participants will develop their restoration and cultural heritage management skills, and visit various national monuments in the areas of Jajce, Zenica and Travnik.
During the camp, a number of prominent experts from Europe and the region will host lectures on cultural heritage, conservation, the importance of using traditional materials in the restoration of buildings of cultural significance, the importance of maintaining these facilities after their restoration, and their economic importance. In addition to this theoretical aspect, the camp participants will take part in the practical work of rebuilding a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina – “Mlinčić” (a series of small water mills) on Pliva lakes. The Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared the complex of mills a National Monument of high ethnographic value in 2009.
The main objective of the camp is the use of cultural heritage to building and foster cooperation among young professionals, creating the conditions for reconciliation as a precondition for peace and democracy, and the preservation of traditional crafts and techniques.
The Regional Restoration Camp in Jajce is part of the larger project “Western Balkan – From historical integration to contemporary active participation”, which is supported by the European Union. This camp is implemented by CHwB in cooperation with the organization Co-Plan from Albania and the foundation for community development Mozaik of Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Since 2007 CHwB has organized restoration camps in Albania, Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia. The 17 previous camps have been attended by over 500 people from different parts of Europe, and have implemented various restoration interventions on more than 65 buildings of historical significance throughout the region.