Conservation and Revitalisation of Cultural and Natural Heritage

Programme Summary

Why is the programme needed? Lithuania’s wooden cultural heritage is an important part of the traditional environment and cultural landscape. Around 1 700 wooden buildings are on the list of 5 300 cultural heritage objects in this country. In order to protect, restore and conserve wooden heritage, there is an urgent need to develop greater awareness and knowledge about good heritage care in this area. There is also a need to develop skills in preserving cultural heritage, and support cultural heritage research in the Lithuanian regions. The programme will help address some of the identified most pressing challenges in heritage care and public access to heritage in this area. What will the programme achieve? By supporting activities in this area, the programme contributes to economic development, creating new jobs, social inclusion, and raising greater awareness about the importance of good heritage care. In this regard the programme ties in with the Europe 2020 Strategy and the aims set out by the European Commission for the EU Creative Europe 2014-2020 programme. How will it be achieved? The programme will: • Provide support for the restoration, conservation, adaption and maintenance of at least 25 wooden heritage buildings and 5 wooden buildings and surrounding infrastructural elements in ethnographic villages; • Provide support for the finalisation and adaption works of at least 13 partly restored non-wooden cultural heritage buildings; • Provide support for the establishment of development of at least 4 applied cultural research and conservation centres in wooden and non-wooden cultural heritage buildings; • Promote cross-border and bilateral cultural cooperation and stimulate capacity development in this area by the exchange of knowledge and best practices between cultural players in Lithuania and the donor states. How will bilateral relations be strengthened? The programme has a focus on strengthening bilateral relations for example by providing support for partner search for donor partnership projects prior to the preparation of a project application and through support for networking, exchange, sharing and transfer of knowledge, technology, experience and best practices. The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage is the Donor Programme Partner. What are the partnership opportunities? There is support for partner search activities and for the development of partner projects. Bilateral cooperation and exchanges will gear-up the exchange of knowledge and best practices between cultural players in the donor and beneficiary states in this area, and in doing so it will contribute to accelerated learning. Who can apply for funding under this programme? Eligible applicants are: • organisations, institutions and communities, which own cultural heritage buildings and sites and / or have such buildings or sites in the territory they administer; • organisations and institutions which operate in the sector of immovable cultural heritage preservation and research.