Heritage Skills Build Peace and Capacity, also known as KORU*, is a project aimed to ‘build capacity’ theoretically and practically in Turkey – developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources needed to survive, adapt, and thrive – fin the heritage protection sector, and encourage a wider engagement with cultural heritage. The KORU Project was conducted in Mardin, Antakya, Istanbul and Edinburgh between July 2017 and February 2020.
Adult Trainings: These trainings were carried out for different groups aimed at increasing knowledge about protecting cultural heritage, developing skills and changing attitudes. The target groups were journalists, historical house owners, and teachers who are catalysts in spreading cultural heritage conservation awareness in addition to groups who are currently working in the heritage protection sector such as local government employees, tourist guides, stonemasons, carpenters, architects and city planners. 18 trainings were executed each of them tailored for the different needs of the target groups with the participation of 259 trainees.
Conversation Camps: 2 Conservation Camps were held in Mardin in September 2018 and in Antakya in September 2019, with the participation of 52 university students in total. Mardin Camp focused on Architectural Conservation, Crafts Conservation and Cultural Heritage Interpretation. In Antakya Camp, Building Analysis and QGIS group was added to these three themes.
Edinburgh Leadership Schools: One-week leadership trainings in 2018 and 2019 were held in Edinburgh for individuals who were keen to develop themselves in the field of cultural heritage and had the will and motivation to be a pioneer in the conservation field Participants were selected among the participants who had completed an adult training or conservation camp who showed leadership potential in the field.
Buildings at Risk Register (BARR): Mardin ve Antakya tarihi kent merkezlerindeki tarihi yapıların mevcut durumlarını ortaya koyan online bir veritabanıdır. Yapıların kadastral bilgileri ve mülkiyet durumundan başlayarak, yapım sistemi, kat sayısı, cephe özellikleri ile yapı cephesinde bulunan mimari elemanların bilgilerini kayda geçirmeyi amaçladı. YAP saha çalışması, Aralık-Ocak 2019’da Mardin’de ve Eylül 2019’da Antakya Koruma Kampı’nda yürütüldü. Saha çalışmasında incelenen 1076 yapı coğrafi bilgi sistemleri yazılımı olan QGIS programı ve bu programın mobil uygulaması olan Qfield ile veritabanına aktarıldı.
Tamirevi (Repair House): A registered building in the historical city center of Mardin was chosen with the aim of exemplary restoration application for historical residences. Apart from being just a restoration project, Tamirevi has become the capacity building focus of the KORU Project. Its function was determined by taking the opinions of different stakeholders in the region with the understanding of bottom-up preservation and this cooperation continued during the restoration implementation process. The building, which was also designed as a learning space, hosted a conservation camp for university students as well as training for carpenters and stonemasons during the restoration. Hard-hat tours were carried out in the building during construction. The ground floor of the building is an exhibition area, the upper floor was designed as an artist residence. Tamirevi’s restoration was completed in 10 months and was opened with its new function in October 2019.
In the restoration project and implementation of Tamirevi, which creates an energy-efficient architectural protection model, besides passive energy efficiency methods, technologies such as photovoltaic panels, air source heat pump and heat recovery device were used.
Publications: Based on practical and academic knowledge, brochures and booklets have been published for different target groups around many themes, from historical home care, prevention of treasure hunting, cultural heritage awareness in children to energy efficiency.
For detailed information (including videos, GIS-based maps and publications) about all stages of the 30-month long project, visit www.koruprojesi.org and www.koru.org.uk
Project Partner: Edinburgh World Heritage
Funder: British Council Cultural Protection Fund
KMKD Project Team: Banu Pekol, Çağla Parlak, Süreyya Topaloğlu, Sena Kayasü, Murat Demirli, Mesut Dinler, Ahu Çeziker
*“Kültürel Mirasın Korunmasında Kapasite Geliştirilmesi” is the official name of the project, which can be translated as “Capacity Building in Cultural Heritage Protection”. KORU is both the abbreviation and the slogan of the project derived from the official name, which means “PROTECT”.
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