Sustaining Cultural and Natural Heritage in Albania

Arta Dollani,Nicola Maiellaro,Antonella Lerario

doi:10.3390/su8080792

Abstract

This article describes the ongoing project “School for Cultural Heritage through Map Exploitation” (SCHEME), an integrated set of activities designed to support social inclusion in heritage promotion processes in Albania. The main project goal is delivering ICT tools (map and crowdfunding platforms) and procedures as well as improving the capacity of stakeholders to sustainably valorize hidden resources. The underlying approach has capitalized on existing technologies and experiences through the development of an advanced interactive multimedia map using data produced in the Ljubljana Process. Subsequently, the map will be extended by collecting more data on the Lake Ohrid Region, which has been selected as a pilot area to promote the neglected inland, relieving pressure on more famous coastal sites. A contest among schools will enrich the database, uploading multifaceted memories collected by students. The winning cultural asset will be the object of a small-scale rehabilitation project supported by a fundraising campaign through a crowdfunding platform. The centrality of people’s active participation will contribute to governance innovation by reverting to traditional top-down promotion processes and practices, in which heritage consumers represent passive recipients of ready-made offers and messages. The map platform also holds specific potential for cultural tourism purposes, avoiding mistakes in the geo-localization of sites.

Highlights

The cultural heritage of South-East Europe (SEE), in its built and natural components, is currently facing demanding new challenges.International operators are taking fresh interest in SEE coastal regions as tourism destinations, while these are simultaneously affected by intense urbanization pressures, which results in an uneven territorial development
The SCHEME project considers the need to improve the visibility of all activities developed in the IRPP/SuSstAainAabHilitay n20d16L, 8j,u7b92ljana processes in Albania, removing the above-mentioned uncertaint8ioefs19about sites included in the Priority Intervention Lists (PILs) and their documentation
The main goal of the SCHEME project is to promote the connection of major heritage attractors—mainly located in coastal sites—to lesser-known cultural resources of inland areas, through the valorization of knowledge and memories that lie among communities, expression of old and new significance for the territory, and the financial support of one specific rehabilitation project

Summary

Introduction

The cultural heritage of South-East Europe (SEE), in its built and natural components, is currently facing demanding new challenges. The Process requires a substantial shift in SEE countries’ vision as to the significance and role of cultural heritage, from seeing it as a simple economic resource, in relation to tourism exploitation, to viewing it as an engine for the reconciliation, democratic development, and socio-economic growth of communities. In this sense, approaches to sustainable promotion of cultural heritage in SEE regions need to be matched and integrated into more general and community-centered processes and principles with adequate strategies and tools. This article presents a possible approach to cultural heritage promotion in Albania through the project “SCHEME—School for Cultural Heritage through Map Exploitation”, successively enlarged with other partners with additional features and presented with another name, to that of the recent announcement of the ADRION Program

The Albanian Heritage

Capitalizing Experiences and Existing Technologies

The SCHEME Project

TThheePPiliolottAArreeaa

Discussion