The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP), Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS), together with NGO Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB) and the International Civilian Office (ICO) on 13 and 14 juna 2012. , organized a two-day workshop on the management of cultural heritage, including the protection zone.

Relevant stakeholders are invited to participate in a workshop while a number of actors from the municipalities and key international actors involved in the fieldwork visits to monuments and sites in western Kosovo protected by the Cultural Heritage and the Law on Special Protective Zones.

Shpetim Rudi, Deputy Minister of MESP, expressed his gratitude to the organizers of the workshop and the gathering of relevant actors to discuss policies and strategies at national and local levels for the protection of cultural heritage.

"The workshop is a unique opportunity to bring together representatives of central and local authorities to discuss the implementation of the legislation and responsibilities in the field of spatial planning and protection of cultural heritage," said Mr.. Rudi.

Safety zones are established to ensure the protection of the value of public interest, such as natural resources and cultural heritage. The aim is to protect monuments and archaeological sites and their environment from construction or any other activity that is inconsistent with the zone.

In addition to the protective zone provided for protection under the Law on Cultural Heritage, 45 monuments and sites of special importance for the Kosovo Serb and other communities in Kosovo was granted protection through the establishment of a special protection zone (SPZ). SHC is a defined area around the monument, building, group of buildings, complex, village or historic city center, where specific criteria are used for the controlled construction in order to preserve the historical, cultural, architectural or archaeological context, the natural environment or aesthetic visual environment, and - in the case of the monastery - to protect the monastic way of life. SHC include, for example, churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the medieval town of Novo Brdo, Stari Most in Vojnovića Vushtri, medieval fortress in Zvecane, Memorial Gazimestan, and others.

Kosovo institutions and stakeholders, including the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), should cooperate and agree on future developments in these areas, in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws, including the Law on SPZ.

The management plan provides a strategy for the preservation of cultural heritage sites that meet the needs of the users and visitors of the site. He is an advisory framework for making decisions about the management of the site, approved and ratified by the key factors for a particular site.

"This workshop provides a platform for the discussion of sustainable mechanisms for the management of cultural heritage and the steps that should be taken by the relevant authorities in the future, in the coming months, but after the end of supervised independence. This is not "stuffing the box", but concerns the preservation of Kosovo's beauty for future generations, "said Christopher Rowan, Deputy International Civilian Representative to the opening of the workshop.

On the first day, discussions focused on the principles and guidelines for the management of cultural heritage, as well as administrative and managerial procedures to safeguard zones. While the second day of the presented pilot cases for the planning of sites of cultural and natural heritage in Kosovo.

During the workshop, participants also had the opportunity to visit the World Heritage site of Decani Monastery. On this occasion, visited the monastery, and the environment, including natural spring water.

The first part of the workshop was held at the restaurant "Grika" located within the protection zone of the monastery ....

He also organized visits to the old market in the historic district of Djakovica, and on this occasion, participants were invited to join the Hadum mosque and talk to Osman Gojani, director of the Institute for Protection of Monuments in Djakovica, who spoke to them about the history of
the city and a mosque.

"Cultural heritage is what unites us. Because it belongs to all citizens of Kosovo should not be ethnically grouped, "said Deputy Minister of MCYS, g. Hajdin Abazi.

The day ended in the village Juniku, where the participants were placed in the "towers" (the ancient fortress tower) which is CHwB restored in the "bed and breakfast". Junik is a good example of how cultural monuments can be preserved and revitalized, and to eventually become self-sustaining.

There are also examples of towers that have been converted into public monuments. For example, one of the towers Juniku became a library and Isufaj tower was converted into a regional tourism Ccentar. G. Blaci from CHwB noted that there are plans to convert about 20 facilities in buildings for "bed and breakfast" and other travel services that will facilitate the promotion and protection of the site from which the municipality will have economic benefits.

On the second day, the group was welcomed by the world heritage site, the Pec Patriarchy in Pec. Before Lent with a guide, Bishop John interviewed all participants and shared ideas and impressions of protection zones.

"Patriarchy is a World Heritage Site and to preserve us the necessary funds. We look at this workshop as a way to manage and preserve our cultural heritage, "said Bishop John.

Patriarchy also runs a research center that will be open to the public and will include a digital archive as well as books on Kosovo in Serbian, Albanian, and all other available languages.

Before going to Pristina, the last stop was in the East in order to exchange opinions. With the workshop came out four main priorities.

They are: - The official list of cultural heritage under protection should be clearly defined and completed.- The protective zone should be defined for Monuments and Sites on the list, in addition to the existing SPZ. You need to establish criteria for the implementation of these zones and the division of responsibilities between the relevant institutions. - You need to define the basic criteria for a management plan for the monuments and sites of cultural heritage from the list. - The current process of revising the Law on Cultural Heritage and the Law on spatial planning should be used to treat some of these issues that are not covered by existing legislation. Administrative framework must arise from both the law which clearly defines the process and share responsibilities.

All participants showed interest and willingness to continue holding workshops and discussions on cultural heritage, and they began to operate and propose concrete solutions around managing monuments and sites of cultural heritage and their protective zones.

Source: http://www.ico-kos.org