UK’s HWB to run conservation summer school in Albania

TIRANA, Jan. 31 – London-based Heritage Without Borders (HWB) has been awarded a grant by the Headley Trust to support the conservation of cultural heritage in Albania. A newly established social enterprise founded at University College London, HWB is getting media and donor attention thanks to its innovative approach to capacity building where communities require help and support to conserve their cultural heritage.
Following the success of HWB’s recent international projects in Turkmenistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina, it has now been awarded ò5,000 by the Headley Trust to run a conservation summer school in Albania.
The Headley Trust was so impressed with the success of the project in Sarajevo that they have awarded Heritage Without Borders funding to carry out a further summer school in Albania in 2012. This support will allow HWB to pay for accommodation, travel and subsistence for all local participants as well as for the HWB volunteer team. In addition, it is planned that additional follow-up projects will be run in regional museums. Long-term mentoring and support will also be provided through the programme.
HWB matches museum and conservation professionals with people who need help to conserve, interpret and use their heritage. Through HWB communities in countries lacking heritage resources can tap into specialist skills and practical training that would otherwise be impossible to obtain due to financial and geographical constraints. Meanwhile, qualified volunteers from the UK engage in an active collaboration with their hosts which leads to an exciting exchange of ideas. This experience gives HWB volunteers an experience that radically changes their outlook and transforms their future employment opportunities.
Heritage Without Borders works with a partner organisation in the Balkans, Cultural Heritage Without Borders (CHwB), a Swedish non-governmental organisation working to rescue and preserve tangible and intangible cultural heritage touched by conflict, neglect or human and natural disasters. CHwB provides invaluable guidance, administrative support and has made HWB’s work in the Balkans region possible. HWB will collaborate with CHwB on the programme in Albania.