NGOs & Heritage in Bosnia & Herzegovina Workshop for Professionals in the Cultural Heritage Sector Filozofski fakultet, Univerziteta u Tuzli Thursday 8 th May, 2014 Andrew Lawler, Sarajevo
Contents What is an NGO? NGOs in Bosnia & Herzegovina Heritage-focused NGOs Examples of Heritage-focused NGOs Examples of Projects NGO Collaborations & Funding NGOs & Archaeology Benefits & Problems of NGO work Useful Websites
What is an NGO? In general: Non-Governmental Organization Not-for-Profit Can be funded by governments, individuals, private companies, foundations, or a mix of all 4 Diverse range of activities
NGOs in Bosnia & Herzegovina Many thousands of NGOs registered post-1995 Variety of aims from advocacy to project enactment Only a small proportion deal with heritage Even smaller proportion deal with heritage as a main focus
Heritage-focused NGOs A large number active within the country Local, National, trans-national and International Variety of aims conservation, reconstruction, regeneration, presentation, interpretation, infrastructural
Examples Local Društvo za zaštitu kulturno-povijsnih i prirodnih vrijednosti, Kreševo / Association to Protect Cultural, Historical and Natural Values of Kreševo Udruženje za zaštitu kulturno-historijskog nasljeđa Konjica / Association to Protect Cultural Historical Heritage of Konjic Ekološko-etnološki pokret Dimitor, Previja / Ecological Ethnological movement Dimitor of Previja, Ribnik Organizacija Kupreška visoravan / Organization Kupreška visoravan, Kupres Udruženje građana Merjem / Citizens Association Merjem, Sanski Most Fondacia Visoki, Visoko
Examples - National Fondacija Mozaik Cultural Heritage without Borders Fondacija Mak Dizdar
Examples trans-national & International Archaetypes International Research (Italy) Heritage without Borders (UK) NOTE: Not so common, due to complex legal structure acting as a deterrent for transnational activities. Normal for project-specific partnerships to be formed
Projects Name: Conservation Summer School Date: September 2011 Organiser(s): Heritage without Borders (UK), CHwB (Sarajevo) Location(s): National Museum, Sarajevo Aims: Introduction of Heritage Professionals to basics in museum & artefact conservation
Projects Name: Regional Restoration Camps Date: 2005-present Organiser(s): Cultural Heritage without Borders Location(s): Stolac, Jajce, more TBC Aims: To encourage people to value and care for their local heritage. To use cultural heritage to build relations among young professionals. To preserve traditional crafts and techniques. Interventions directly benefit locals by repairing valuable buildings using traditional materials & techniques and providing new ways of understanding and revitalizing them
Projects Name: Visoko Valley Landscape Survey & Preservation Project Date: Summer 2013 Organiser(s): Archaetypes International Research (Italy) Location(s): Visoko Municipality Aims: to research historical sites, records and the last 50 years of archaeological excavations in the Visoko area Survey of sites Improvement of access to historic sites
Projects Name: Registration of Historic Monuments in Kreševo Date: 2009 - Present Organiser(s): Association to Protect Cultural, Historical and Natural Values of Kreševo Location(s): Kreševo Municipality Aims: To record all historic monuments and sites within Kreševo as National Monuments or at a lower governmental level if they do not meet the required criteria 4 of the 8 National Monuments inscribed in Municipality since Autumn 2011
Projects Name: Discovering the Archaeologists of Europe: Bosnia & Herzegovina Date: 2012-14 Organiser(s): CHwB, with 22 European Partners Location(s): Entire BiH Aims: Census of people employed within archaeological sector & employers to assess the current state of the archaeological profession in Bosnia & Herzegovina and other partner countries
Collaboration NGOs collaborate with: - Governments (all levels) - Communities - Academia - Museums - Skilled craftspeople - Other NGOs
Funding Funding obtained from: - Government budgets (all levels) - International Community - Charitable Foundations - Private Sector
NGOs & Archaeology - Small number of NGOs in BiH dedicated to archaeology - Most heritage-active NGOs have general focus on Cultural Heritage, or focus on local heritage Examples for archaeology: Archaetypes International Research (Italy) Projects in Ze-Do and Una-Sana Cantons Udruženje "Društvo Arheologa 1894 - Excavations in Sarajevo Canton Archaeon Mostar-based advocacy group (in process of registering), with Archaeological News website
Benefits & Problems Benefits of NGO work include: - Better fundraising activities - Experienced in project management - Generally well-connected to government agencies - Tax breaks
Benefits & Problems Problems of NGO work include: - Bias toward funding opportunities what is most urgently needed is not necessarily what funders want to provide money for - EU (and other) Funding limits on sub-contracting; may not be able to employ the right specialist for a project - Flooding of NGO sector in BiH not always positively viewed within local community
Websites & Resources: http://archaetypes.jimdo.com/ http://arheon.org/ http://heritagewithoutborders.org/ http://www.seeheritage.net/ http://www.visoki.ba/ http://bmuseums.net/ http://chwb.org/bosniaandherzegovina/ Andrew Lawler Cultural Heritage without Borders email: andrewlawler06@googlemail.com