Description
The project aims to protect and preserve Czech cultural heritage by emphasizing the importance of industrial and technical cultural heritage. This project focuses on sharing information in the area of documentation and evaluation of this heritage in the Czech Republic and Norway between the project partners – Czech Industrial Heritage Institute and Directorate for Cultural Heritage from Norway. The main goal of this project is an exchange of information about the methods of documentation of these monuments, their evaluation from the perspective of the official institutions, methods of restoration and possibilities of their new utilization. As a result of four study tours in Norway and the Czech Republic and a follow-up research, an itinerant exhibition will be created and presented. The exhibition will focus on important examples of industrial heritage in the Czech Republic and Norway and on successful and unsuccessful examples of revitalization of old forgotten industrial areas and objects, which lost their original function. The exhibition will also show the reflection and feedback on the new utilization provided by the official institutions responsible for care of historical monuments in both countries. The exhibition will be accompanied by new publication on this topic.
Summary of project results
Europe is the cradle of industrialization worldwide. Its industrial cities and regions have contributed to Europe´s prosperity by being the base of economic development and a key source of innovation. While some continue to be places of industrial production, others have lost this significance during the last century. Due to this long-standing industrial history and changes of production patterns over time, Europe is nowadays the continent with the most profound industrial heritage in the world. Even though national histories may differ in details, industrial past is one of the main common European roots and industrial heritage is a truly European topic. Nevertheless, industrial heritage sites are under strong economic or environmental development pressure. The old-industrial regions are often perceived negatively as dirty, unattractive and suffering from economic decline and their value of culturally important industrial places is often appreciated with delay. However, there is a big potential of heritage-related topics and preservation and re-utilization of industrial heritage objects can be part of sustainable development. Therefore, its investigation is vital to our understanding of the development of industry generally and the impact of industry on society. The predefined project Industrial Heritage focused on the exchange of experience with documentation, research, evaluation and presentation of selected topics related to industrial heritage. Teams of experts have made each other acquainted with industrial heritage in Norway and the Czech Republic, discussed methods of renovation and possibilities of the new use. The aim of the project was to study, evaluate and mediate knowledge in the area of cultural heritage management and establish cooperation between specialized cultural heritage management institutions in the Czech Republic and Norway. Based on the research, exhibition and publication have been created, dedicated to industrial heritage of the Czech Republic and Norway and to examples of revitalization of industrial sites which had lost their original function, reflecting successful and unsuccessful approaches from the perspective of cultural heritage management with respect to cultural values and their new use.
Summary of bilateral results
Bilateral cooperation of the key cultural heritage institutions of Norway and the Czech Republic has been established with the intention to improve recognition of the cultural, social and economic value of industrial heritage and utilization of its potentials. Interacting, sharing knowledge and know-how shall add to the efficiency of industrial heritage projects, help to learn from experiences made in the other country and to benefit from synergies in order valuable parts of this heritage are to be preserved and sensitively reutilized. Cooperation of both institutions will continue after the project completion. In order to foster the preservation of industrial heritage, both institutions will continue in raising awareness of the specific challenges of industrial heritage preservation including topics in general education for raising public awareness and understanding, fostering financing schemes for projects re-utilizing industrial heritage, arranging joint activities to promote industrial heritage including campaigns for the promotion of the industrial heritage. The project has helped to strengthening bilateral relations that is highly relevant for the present and future social coherence as well as economic development with a view of understanding the industrial and historical background in both countries within the European context.