Adoorable Talyana Heritage
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
TALYANA. It is the most romantic district of Varna, situated in the Old Town, with the highest concentration of cultural and historical heritage monuments and archeology. The area once the vibrant heart of the town was for long time left in decay. Thanks to the title European Youth Capital Varna won in 2017 young architects, artists, urbanists started its revitalisation. Now, it is far beyond a creative district. It’s a shared effort for preservation, economic development and social inclusion.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Which funds
Other Funds
Consortium DESIGNSCAPES
Creating of capacity for design based innovation in urban environment
H2020-SC6-CO-CREATION-2016-3,
RN: 763784
CityWalk
Towards energy responsible places: establishing walkable cities in the Danube Region
Interreg Danube
Specific objective Support environmentally-friendly and safe transport systems and balanced accessibility of urban and rural areas
Description of the project
Summary
The idea of Talyana was first proposed in 2015 to be the area in the city where several of the European Youth Capital Programme INNOWAVE key actions were to be concentrated. The orientation towards youth participation in urban renewal was itself a heritage from the bid Varna proposed for European Capital of Culture for 2019. The team of the cultural capital supported the youth organisations effort and many of the significant project ideas were embraced in the EYC2017 programme. It was continuity of ideas, skills and team efforts.
During 2017 Varna EYC, those wishing to participate in the development of the neighbourhood applied with their projects in the competitions of the programme. Thanks to them in 2018 a community of architects, urban planners, designers, IT specialists, historians, artists, active citizens founded the Talyana Association which continued to work on the revival of the area. The approach of the local authorities was to ensure infrastructural rehabilitation of the area, which is gradually adapting to the proposals of the experts from Talyana. The revitalisation process is supported by local and national programmes for culture, and most importantly - by the local communities - business, associations and NGOs, administration, residents.
Talyana Association stimulates, enables and improves the quality of all stakeholders participation in protection and revitalisation of immovable cultural heritage in Talyana District in Varna, Bulgaria. It acts as a mediator and a link between the legal framework, the administration, the owners, the construction companies, the local community, the business and the urban memory. Thanks to the various processes and tools created, the neighbourhood benefits from quality participation in co-creation practices in the regeneration process preserving the city's memory. The Associаtion is a hub and incubator for urban renewal and this model is widely transferable - within the country and beyond, thanks to our tool ADOORABLE.
Key objectives for sustainability
Our team aimed to build ecosystems to participate in cultural heritage revitalisation. Networking experts, owners, businesses, institutions and local community is a key factor for sustainable care for history and urban memory. Lost connections between people and cultural heritage need to be built in order to enable and improve the participation of all stakeholders in the urban regeneration process in the old historic city center. Mutual efforts of experts from different fields and collaborations of engaged local and creative businesses results in higher quality of life and overcoming the crisis of values.
Thanks to one of our projects - ADORABLE ACADEMY we created our business Model Canvas with long-term sustainability and opportunities to generate income. Starting from the customer's point of view we wanted to offer support to all stakeholders in the restoration process by enabling their journey through the heritage cycle enjoy-understand-value-care. Conducting our key activities for enjoying, understanding, valuing and caring for the connections between people and heritage we grow the ecosystem engaged with preservation of history and authentic image of place.
We do also have a service blueprint with an overview of all activities and services which the online platform for urban renewal ADOORABLE ACADEMY provides to all stakeholders.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Providing easy access to know-how and information as well as civic engagement on local level are the cornerstones of our prototype Adoorable Academy - an educational initiative that implements user-driven approach to design courses “With Care for the future of the Past” which are based on the current specific demands of the stakeholders. By networking them in a local active ecosystem we not only built connections between them and the spirit of the historic place, but also strengthened their relationships and, consequently, catalysed their synergies for urban revitalisation, new design-enabled productions and collaborations. Some of the recruited lecturers are representatives of the Varna expert community involved in conservation of cultural values and preservation of urban memory, who are familiar with the local context and work actively for the promotion of the cultural heritage of the city. The cultural heritage as a resource for sustainable development of the local community is one of the predominant aspects of the lecture course. The fuller understanding and preserving the spirit of place play a crucial role in the art co-creation workshops “Colour the City”, “aDOORable key cabinet” and “Recreate the spirit of the Talyana” which aim at promoting the potential of historic urban context through involving local community in co-creation of cultural productions.
In 2017 with the international plain air Talyana Forum a design code for the neighborhood was elaborated by a team of international experts in architecture, urban design, engineers and artists.
Key objectives for inclusion
Our goals and how we meet them:
To stimulate the public engagement and the participation of the citizens in the formation and implementation of municipal policies for urban development of Varna;
To develop, popularise and implement concepts for urban development of public spaces in Varna;
To organise and support the creation of zones for urban culture and art in cooperation with the competent state and municipal authorities;
To develop projects and programs that contribute to the preservation, promotion and expression in the best way of the cultural and architectural-historical heritage of Bulgaria;
To promote the ascending development of Bulgarian architecture, urban planning and design, as well as to support the education, recognition and realisation of young students and specialists in these fields;
To develop international cooperation in the field of arts, architecture and media;
To assist the institutions at international, national, regional and local level in carrying out an analysis of the existing infrastructure, urban built and green environment;
To study and adapt European social and economic standards and good practices for urban development and quality of life in the settlements in the country;
To promote urban art among the public and to work for the prevention of street vandalism;
To assist in the revitalisation of abandoned public spaces;
To attract business organisations in order to develop and improve urban spaces
We organise educative programmes, offer expert knowledge and support synergies and potential collaborations between stakeholders in the neighborhood. We run projects like ADOORABLE, organise events, where local businesses share their experience and insights in co-creation workshop for wide , work with authorities for strategy planing like City Walk project for a more pleasant neighborhood stimulating the citizens to walk and to ride a bike.
Results in relation to category
The theoretical and practical aspects of the ADOORABLE ACADEMY are developed during the delivery of the prototype by organizing online zoom webinars with the lecturers and the users of the educational platform. The overview of the design process from the first and second innovation phase was presented in two outdoor exhibitions - mid-term exposition “ADOORABLE ACADEMY for local communities in Talyana” and final presentation of the prototype “ADOORABLE ACADEMY with care for the future of the past”.
Many other spin off initiatives were realised thanks to the community of experts from Talyana - together with local authorities we organised public consultations concerning key public spaces in Varna - the new library, the multifunctional culture public space "Dupkata", "Karin dom" day care centre for children with disabilities.
Thanks to the cooperation with Plovdiv European Capital of Culture 2019 programmers we developed Strategic Guidelines for the Development of Talyana, now applicable to any other district willing to uptake the road for revitalisation, cultural heritage preservation and inclusion.
Last but not least, we have been trough the bid for European Capital of Culture for 2019 and learned our lessons. With that legacy we continued and won European Youth Capital in 2017, bearing the fruits of that wave of innovations in social, economic, educational and cultural fields now. Precisely this legacy and the innovative attitude created in our city so far are behind our next goal to step up as a candidate for European Innovation Capital. We believe that Talyana and Varna can be the tipping point of the New European Bauhaus innovation start.
How Citizens benefit
The ADOORABLE ACADEMY aims to improve the quality of participation in the process of preserving and revitalizing immovable cultural heritage. How to enable stakeholders to care for the future of the past is the basis of the study of opportunities, barriers, challenges and enablers, which involved experts and representatives of the local community, business entrepreneurships.
The key factor for successful revitalization depends on the qualities of the involved stakeholders within the restoration process and their commitment to the historical significance and potential of heritage buildings and sites. For this reason we focus on improving the quality of involvement of all stakeholders, starting with a specific focus on community and businesses. Raising public awareness about cultural values was a high priority of all activities performed by our team. We also identified that the potential of the spirit of the place is still underused and not easily recognizable by the local community as a resource for development. Organizing participatory workshops supported the experiencing the beauty of the architectural monuments by the participants and materialized and created tangible connections between people and history.
Our team believes in the potential of building ecosystems to participate in cultural heritage revitalization. Networking experts, owners, businesses, institutions and local community is a key factor for sustainable care for history and urban memory. Lost connections between people and cultural heritage need to be built in order to enable and improve the participation of all stakeholders in the urban regeneration process in the old historic city center. Mutual efforts of experts from different fields and collaborations of engaged local and creative businesses will result in higher quality of life and overcoming the crisis of values.
Innovative character
Talyana innovation lays in its genesis - from European Capital of Culture bid, through European Youth Capital Programme projects to finally self-organised movement of community of young talents devoted to urban renewal and heritage preservation.
Our topic - citizen and stakeholders participation in urban renewal is innovative as well. As a topic and as the tools we created through our Adoorable Academy.
The experts - architects, builders and institutions are working in a complex process which is modified and there is a clear identification for the intention of central national authorities to delegate a part of their responsibilities to local municipal institutions. This institutional transformation led to the conclusion about the importance of local active actors who are involved and responsible for supporting the revitalization and available for direct contact with all stakeholders. The role of the ACADEMY as a local mediator engaged with raising cultural awareness, building capacity and enabling local communities to take care of the cultural monuments. The main focus of the team is concentrated in stimulating the initial phase of the restoration process, because there are still many heritage buildings at risk, which leads to loss of urban identity. Special attention is also paid to the exploitation of the cultural heritage building after the completed restoration, which seems to be a major factor for the urban regeneration and improving the quality of life and urban environment. Sharing know-how and showing good examples for adaptation, reconstruction, reuse of spaces, transformation, interventions, restoration and preservation of authenticity, maintenance of immovable cultural heritage is at the core of the idea for ADOORABLE ACADEMY.
