Every region in Europe is proud of its built heritage and cultural identity. Across rural areas, the long history of the land, castles and cottages, windmills and canals, factories and farmhouses all create a unique sense of place. This link with the past is important to communities and visitors alike, but as social patterns change and buildings lose their former functions, new uses must be found for old places.
Re-appraising how a building can be used within the specific identity of a region, can stimulate economic development and renew interest in the heritage. The built heritage has the potential to make a dynamic contribution towards lively European regions.
The Cultural Heritage and Regional Development Project - CULTURED, is a Trans-national project, comprising 14 partners from 9 countries, working together to share best practice in using built heritage and cultural identity as an engine for regional development.
The University of Ghent is Lead Partner in this project, which is co-financed by the European Union. Iris consulting supports the University of Ghent that is taking the responsibility for the co-ordination, management and practical organisation matters of the project.
The project has officially started in January 2005 and will last for three years (until the end of December 2007)
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As a metaphor for explaining the underlying relationship between cultural heritage and regional identity the project partners make use of what they call the "Wheel of CULTURED". One of the main ideas behind this metaphor is to find out and share experience on how the specific heritage of each of the regions can be embedded in a regional development strategy. |
(Source: Prof. Georges Allaert, 2005)PRIVATE AREA |