Kharkiv School of Architecture is participating in a three-year international project “UREHERIT. Architects for Heritage in Ukraine. Recreating Identity and Memory”.
The project will last 36 months (until April 2026) and will be co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme.
The project addresses the topics of evaluation, preservation, and restoration of the urban and architectural heritage in Ukraine during and after the war, treating it as a resource for sustainable cultural, social, environmental, and economic recovery, while solving challenges of preservation, re-definition and highlighting the national and local cultural identity and reflect the memory in the rebuilding.
Interdisciplinary teams of Ukrainian and European heritage specialists, architects, planners, engineers, other professionals, officers of local authorities and communities of Ukrainian cities in various forms – professional workshops, seminars, public events, research etc. – will share their knowledge and experience, and will experiment with the aim to build competence on the heritage protection, regeneration of culturally meaningful plans and projects and empowering of local communities as a tool for building the new, democratic and sustainable Ukraine with locally unique yet European culture.
The project was initiated by the Lithuanian Association of Architects. The project brought together a consortium of 11 partners from different countries and institutions. Architects Association of Lithuania, Architects Sweden, Bundeskammer der Ziviltechnikerlnnen – BKZT (Federal Chamber of Architects and Chartered Engineers) Austria, Royal Danish Academy. The Institute of Technology and Architecture (IBT), Architects Chamber of Romania, The National Council of Architects, Planners, Landscapers and Conservationists, or CNAPPC Italy, The “Bundesarchitektenkammer e.V.” (BAK – Federal Chamber of German Architects), Estonian Association of Architects, The National Union of Architects of Ukraine, Ro3kvit – Urban Coalition for Ukraine, Kharkiv School of Architecture and the Architects’ Council of Europe as associate partners.
With this project we want to contribute to recovery of an artistic sector – architecture as a cultural expression – inviting Ukrainian architects (and heritage protection specialists in particular) to collaborate with European architects on an equal footing: to share knowledge and experience and together search for a new, Ukraine-suited, methodology and ways to preserve and recover Ukrainian urban and architectural heritage in a sustainable, inclusive manner.
Ruta Leitanaite, the initiator and coordinator of the project, member of the Council of the Lithuanian Association of Architects.
The general objective of the project is to recover the cultural sector of architecture as a blossoming field of action engaging in combining tangible and intangible heritage with new architecture and urban design.
The specific long-term objectives of the project are to build capacity to: 1) recover war-damaged immovable heritage of Ukraine, as part of a general reconstruction effort; 2) reconstruct social and identity structures starting from the cultural heritage recovery; 3) activate and involve local communities in all phases of the recovery; and 4) activate and generate local economic networks and processes.
The programmes within the project include activities directly aimed at achieving two goals: a) prepare the post-war recovery of the Ukrainian cultural sectors through needs assessments, capacity building and investment planning; b) prepare and train Ukrainian cultural heritage professionals with regard to the protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage from risks.
The project will result in a set of recommendations and methodologies regarding:
— assessment of heritage values and damage evaluation;
— regeneration of valuable heritage in a sustainable, economic and culturally meaningful way;
— holistic renovation of soviet housing in Ukraine;
— participatory process in heritage protection;
— architectural design competitions: implementation and financial tips;
— interplay between technology and heritage;
— enhancement of educational programs in architectural schools;
— content, financing and organization of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) program on sustainable recovery with heritage.
The project has established a platform for long-term collaboration among architects, urban planners, landscape architects, and heritage specialists from Ukraine and other European countries to protect and develop nature and heritage as a resource for Ukraine’s recovery.
In the UREHERIT project, the Kharkiv School of Architecture is involved in several activities:
— development of two educational courses for undergraduate architects: “Critical Reconstruction and Heritage” and “Atlas of Modernism,” which aim to enhance knowledge, competencies, and skills in working with architectural heritage at risk of destruction, either due to public disapproval, such as Soviet heritage, or through damage caused by the war;
— implementation in the educational program of methodologies and recommendations developed by Lithuanian partners for the holistic renovation of Soviet housing in Ukraine;
— engagement as experts and lecturers to conduct specific panels of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) program for architects on sustainable heritage restoration.
