This report, conducted by the Master’s students of the Technische Universität Berlin’s Urban Management program in coopera- tion with the GIZ - Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, examines strategies of sustainable heritage conservation for the Albanian villages of Vuno and Qeparo. With this report we wish to stimulate and contribute to an emerging discussion in Albania regarding the development of creative, sustainable models for conserving the country’s rich cultural heri- tage and revitalizing village communities. Our intention is twofold. First, by elaborating on general principles of conservation in combi- nation with a broad collection of concrete and successful inter- national case-studies, we wish to inspire regional stakeholders to learn from elsewhere as they work to defne local solutions. Second, we hope that our proposal for the historic villages of Vuno and Qeparo - a Village Conservation Model based on the develop- ment of a Conservation Lab and dispersed Village Hotel - will be a constructive start to the preservation of the villages of Albania’s southern coastal region. Rizky Pratama Adhi, Moutasem Al Khnaifes, Ayse Merve Altinsoy, Haitham Audi, Mohammad Masoud Azimi, Comfort Badaru, Daniela Bonilla E., Katherine Cashman, Clémence Chapus, Efrosini Collazos, Lucas Counter, Ella Dodson, Daniel Escobar, Elizaveta Fakirova, Sofa Fernandez Rosso, Estefania Giesecke, Patricia Guena Trottenberg, Zaharatul Hasanah, Shankar Narayanan Iyer, Marcelo Julião de Seixas, Shadi Mehrpour, Daniela Nieto Lopez, João Rett Lemos. Edited by Emily Bereskin and Christian Haid. in cooperation with ISBN 978-3-9812769-8-5 Edition Berlin, 2018 Partners Sustainable Models of Heritage Conservation and Revitalization: Editors A Proposal for the Historic Villages of Dr. Emily Bereskin Christian Haid Vuno and Qeparo, Albania Proofreading Authors Mary Stewart Rizky Pratama Adhi Moutasem Al Khnaifes Ayse Merve Altinsoy Layout Haitham Audi Report on the Results of a Mohammad Masoud Azimi Fanny Harder Case Study Research Project (2017) Comfort Badaru Daniela Bonilla E. Urban Management Program Katherine Cashman Print Berlin University of Technology Clémence Chapus Efrosini Collazos in Collaboration with Lucas Counter ‘Integrated Sustainable Development of the Southern Coastal Region’, implemented by Ella Dodson Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Albania Daniel Escobar Edition Elizaveta Fakirova Sofa Fernandez Rosso Berlin, February 2018 Estefania Giesecke Patricia Guena Trottenberg Zaharatul Hasanah Shankar Narayanan Iyer Marcelo Julião de Seixas Shadi Mehrpour Daniela Nieto Lopez João Rett Lemos ISBN 978-3-9812769-8-5 Sustainable Models of Heritage Conservation and Revitalization Preface Preface With this report we wish to stimulate and extremely pleased to work collectively with the and communities excited to play a role in the contribute to an emerging discussion in Albania GIZ on the important issue of conservation and future of their homes. Although many challenges regarding the development of creative, sustain- alternative forms of heritage financing. lay ahead, we are hopeful and have been excited able models for conserving the country’s rich to have been part of the process. cultural heritage and revitalizing village commu- In a ten-day fieldtrip to the Southern Coastal nities. Our intention is twofold. First, by elabo- Region of Albania, the young professionals Emily Bereskin and Christian Haid rating on general principles of conservation in became familiar with the context and the complex Urban Management Program, combination with a broad collection of concrete challenges facing the region. In the following two- Technische Universität Berlin and successful international case-studies, we month period, this onsite fieldwork evolved into wish to inspire regional stakeholders to learn the report at hand, which presents a proposal for from elsewhere as they work to define local solu- sustainable heritage conservation in Southern tions. Second, we hope that our proposal for the Albania, and offers a rich collection of comparable historic villages of Vuno and Qeparo—a Village international case-studies all across the world. Conservation Model based on the development of a Conservation Lab and dispersed Village Hotel— We would like to express our gratitude to all will be a constructive start to the preservation the people who were involved in and who have of the villages of the Albania’s southern coastal supported this project. Our thanks go to our part- region. ners from the GIZ in Albania, especially to Hans- Juergen Cassens, country director of GIZ Albania, Since 2003, the Urban Management Program without whom this cooperation would not have at Technische Universität (TU) Berlin has fruit- been possible and to Valbona Koci for coordinating fully collaborated with the GIZ. The TU Masters the project onsite and for sharing with us her enor- program brings together an international group mous expertise. We are further grateful to Erisa of young professionals from various disciplinary Nesimi and Eneida Berisha for their constant help backgrounds, such as architecture, economics, and daily presence on site. Additional thanks go to engineering, geography, urban planning, and the local Albanian professionals and students who sustainable development. The students have worked with us during our time Albania. While years of experience working in cities as diverse as developing the report back in Berlin, Prof. Dr. Ares Lima, Dar es Salaam, Damascus, Kabul, Bangalore, Kalandides was immensely helpful in developing Detroit, Jakarta, Buenos Aires, Quito, Ankara, the economic model together with the students Moscow, Paris, Bogotá and Sao Paolo. The group’s and us, and we are deeply indebted to him for his collective expertise is a unique resource that can, time and expertise. Above all, we want to thank as in the case of the present report, be utilized to the students of the Urban Management Program help create proposals for new strategies and poli- for their great commitment and engagement. cies. The GIZ, in turn, provides the students with case-studies where they, as a group, are given the There is great potential for the sustainable conser- chance to develop an integrated urban manage- vation and revitalization of Vuno, Qeparo, and Image 1: ment project. The focus of these annual projects the other mountain villages in Southern Albania. Cover Vuno is chosen by the GIZ and encompasses diverse During our time in the region, we encountered Image 2: issues such as waste management, urban regen- experts with great knowledge and respect for Field Work eration, and risk management. This year, we were building traditions, visionary and capable leaders, 4 5 Sustainable Models of Heritage Conservation and Revitalization Foreword Foreword Albania is a country rich in natural and cultural heri- heritage will endure and contribute to the overall analysis, presentation of initial ideas to key stake- tage. The 400 km long coastline, the diferent moun- development of the region, only if there is some holders; and the follow-up analysis/discussions. tain ranges, natural rivers and cultivated lands are economic perspective. matched with an abundance of cultural heritage, We truly believe that the ideas and the models in this some dating back to Illyrian times. More recent The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale report will serve as a reference for future develop- history is still very present in cities and villages also. Zusammenarbeit - GIZ [the German Organization ments in the feld of urban conservation and revi- The southern coastal region of Albania is no excep- for International Cooperation, on behalf of the talization; aimed not only to the related institutions, tion. Mountains, the Mediterranean Sea, a rich German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and professionals or academia, but to the [heritage] cultural landscape, ancient sites and old traditional Development is supporting a project of the Albanian house-owners and interest groups the real drivers / villages are characteristics of this area and a huge Government for the sustainable development of actors of economic development. The elaborated asset for development. the southern coastal region. In this context, the Village Conservation Model will be applicable not Integrated Sustainable Development of the Southern only for Vuno and Qeparo, but hopefully for other As in other parts of the world, new opportunities Coastal Region programme and the partners such traditional and historic villages of similar contexts in over the last 20 years have changed the social struc- as National Territorial Planning Agency [NTPA], Himara, Albania. tures in those villages. Many people have left to the Institute of Culture Monuments [ICM], the move to cities or even abroad, some have moved Municipality of Himara etc, are pleased to have coop- We truly hope that putting “Village Conservation nearby into more modern [recently constructed] erated with the Urban Management [UM] Masters Model” into practice can give the traditional /historic housing, some have stayed in the old buildings but Programme of the Technical University Berlin [TU villages in Himara a chance to start a heritage-based with little means to maintain them. In many cases, Berlin], in co-organizing the summer school on urban development approach! complicated heritage structures make investments conservation aiming at developing “Sustainable in the preservation and use of the built-up heritage Models of Conservation