Revival of Russian Historic Settlements

Vyborg hosted the 9th All-Russian Con­fe­rence “Preservation and Revival of Small Historical Towns and Rural Settle­ments: Problems and Prospects. Compre­hensive Comprehensive Programs for Development.”

The conference featured over 180 participants from 30 Russian regions, as well as experts from Finland and Estonia. The event was organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Committee on Culture of the Leningrad region, the Joint Vyborg Museum Preserve and the Russian Association of Restorers.

The event was opened by Sergei Bulavsky, the Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Culture in the North-West Federal District. He noted that “year by year, the conference increasingly attracts the attention of experts, especially heads of historic settlements and municipalities. This demonstrates the readiness of local authorities to work in this direction.”

The agenda of the event included the plenary meeting, several sessions and an overview of the major sights in Vyborg as well as objects that are under restoration and reconstruction.

The delegates discussed a wide range of issues, including legislative and methodological assistance, state-sponsored programs and experience in their implementation, public/private partnership projects, the importance of archaeological research, international experience and experience in implementing concepts for the preservation and revival of small historic towns and settlements by local authorities.

The outcomes of the volunteer project “Common Cause. Revival of Wooden Churches of the North” were announced, and the book by the honorary architect of Russia Eleonora Shevchenko “On the Problems of Preserving Historic Settlements, and More” was presented.

The conference brought to light important issues and problems in modern Russia and became the next practical step in achieving a common goal of preserving the historical memory. As one of the participants, Sergei Rybakov, the Chairman of the Association of the Development of Historical Settlements “Russian Province” noted, “the topic of the conference is very important. It concerns not only the preservation of cultural heritage in general, but the most important one in particular, meaning the development of historic settlements, small towns, and rural settlements. Undoubtedly, historic cities are the most important ones in Russia, because they stood at the origins of our country, they served as the key focal points in the spatial development of our state. We need to realize this first in order to create a strategy for the development of Russia in general.”

Source: www.mkrf.ru