Joint UNESCO/ICOMOS mission to help support the rehabilitation of Chernihiv's historic centre

The activity took place within the framework of the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust Project ‘Support for Ukraine in culture and education through UNESCO; Emergency response for World Heritage and cultural property: damage assessment and protection’.

The mission aimed to assist in the development of a rehabilitation plan for the historic urban centre of Chernihiv – including the site inscribed on Ukraine’s Tentative List in 1989 as ‘Historic Centre of Tchernigov, 9th – 13th centuries’.

Ahead of the mission, 3 UNESCO/ICOMOS workshops were held by ICOMOS for Ukrainian participants, who were brought together in a working group established by the Ministry of Culture, Information and Policy (MCIP).:

• 15 December 2023 – “Identifying Values and Needs”: Presentations by 3 ICOMOS experts on the methodologies of the Historic Urban Landscape, Heritage Impact Assessment and Post-Trauma Recovery and Reconstruction
• 25 January 2024 – “People-Centred Planning for Urban Rehabilitation” : Presentations by 3 ICOMOS experts on the ICOMOS Our Common Dignity Rights-Based Approaches methodology and case studies from Estonia, Ireland, Israel, Poland and Ukraine
• 29 February 2024 – “Heritage Management in Chernihiv”: Presentations by the Ukrainian members of the Working Group for the development of a Rehabilitation Plan for the Historic Centre of Chernihiv and discussion with UNESCO and ICOMOS team members.

The 5-day field mission consisted of meetings, roundtable discussions with stakeholders, including representatives from departments of the city/municipality as well as representatives from local communities. The topics presented and discussed included the holistic management of heritage sites; heritage rehabilitation and participatory approach, the concept of preparedness in disaster environments and the development of emergency preparedness plans for cultural heritage in ongoing crisis.

Together with the appointed Ukrainian working group, tasked to work on the Rehabilitation plan, the UNESCO and ICOMOS experts’ team visited monuments and sites in Chernihiv, and on-site discussions were held about the sites that will be documented for emergency preparedness during the next UNESCO/ICOMOS mission which will take place from the end of April.
2 workshops were held on the methodology for the Rehabilitation plan as well the methodology for the Emergency preparedness plan – two crucial documents on the path of post-conflict reconstruction and recovery.

The ICOMOS team comprised of the following experts: Riin ALATALU (Estonia), Sergey KRAVTSOV (Israel), Grainne Shaffrey (Ireland), Zeynep Ece ATABAY (Türkiye) and Zeynep Gül ÜNAL (Türkiye).