UREHERIT: Reconstructing the culture of architecture in Ukraine

Architects for heritage in Ukraine: recreating identity and memory” together with Architects Sweden ( Sveriges arkitekter ) launched a second conference. This year's theme is “Reconstructing the culture of architecture in Ukraine”. During one day, 30 experts shared their knowledge with the aim to build competence on the heritage protection, regeneration of culturally meaningful plans and projects and empowering of local communities as a tool for rebuilding sustainable Ukraine with a unique yet European cultural DNA.  

On March 13th, day before the conference, during UREHERIT summit in Stockholm a cooperation agreement was signed between UREHERIT and ARCH-E EU platform for architectural design competitions! Together the projects will initiate a platform for long-term cooperation between architects, urbanists and landscape architects from Ukraine and other European countries to protect and develop the heritage as a resource for the recovery of Ukraine. 

As Ukrainian and European specialists will work and create together, the projects will provide two–way knowledge. Ukrainians learning from Europeans, Europeans learning from Ukrainians. On the other hand, the participating EU partners, through the co-creation process will get an innovative knowledge towards contemporary heritage preservation and recovery that could be used elsewhere, not only in Ukraine.  Photo: UREHERIT summit On 14th of May he second public conference “Reconstructing the culture of architecture in Ukraine” took place in Stockholm, Sweden (Academy of Art on Fredsgatan 12).

Organised by Architects Sweden (Sveriges arkitekter) the event brought together architects, urbanists, heritage preservation experts, government officials, and representatives from international organizations. The visitors of the UREHERIT conference were welcomed by the VR exhibition. 360° VR footage allowed guests to experience Kyiv at 3 destroyed modernistic objects and dive into today’s reality. “Undoubtedly, there is a demand to build personal connections between Ukraine and the world.  This immense experience allows us to share the consequences of war and the importance of Ukraine with the world” shares artist Victor Samoylenko.    

The conference began with welcome speeches by Tobias Olsson, director at Architects Sweden, Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi, president NUAU, and Olle Burell, chairman of the municipal assembly in Stockholm.  Christer Larsson, Head of the Board at the National Research Program "Sustainable Community Building" at Formas, delivered a compelling keynote speech on "Piloting to guide transformative reconstruction – a Swedish experience," inspiring attendees with insights from Sweden's architectural heritage reconstruction efforts.  During the conference five high-level round table discussions were held between Ukrainian government and international architectural and heritage protection organizations representatives. The main topics of UREHERIT are the assessment of war damage to cultural heritage; public participation in the restoration of cultural heritage; architectural competitions; holistic renovation of modern housing; education and continued professional development in the practice, etc. The first part of the conference was devoted to the assessment of damages and losses caused to the cultural heritage of Ukraine as a result of the war, as well as the assessment of the needs for restoration.  

“Assessing value and damage to the cultural heritage and technology in Ukraine” Henriette Ejstrup - PhD, Det Kongelige Akademi, presenting Assessment of heritage value methodology in Scandinavia report. Oksana Khoroshavina - presenting The issue of authenticity of construction techniques and materials during restoration; Mariana Kaplynska - presenting Wooden technologies; Tina Wik - chair ICOMOS Wood Committee.  Moderator: Olena Oliynyk, Prof., D.Arch.,NUAU, Ukraine.  During the first UREHERIT conference an open call for a one year program - CPD Ukraine – was announced. The selection panel has now convened and assessed all the proposals, choosing 12 teams to participate in the capacity-building program. Continuous Professional Development Program on Sustainable Development with Heritage was further discussed during next topic:  Ensuring Participatory Approach in heritage reconstruction Aet Ader - Estonian Union of Architects; Daniela Calciu - presenting Method for inclusive heritage recovery topic; Katharina Fröch - Austrian Section of Architects (BKZT), presenting Competition standard topic; Vitaliia Barkar - architect, founder-CEO at LLUM architects, Ukraine; Olena Zhukova - a candidate of Historical Sciences, museologist, and expert in Monumental Studies, Ukraine; Åsa Dahlin - director, Södertälje city planning office; Moderator: Tove Levonen  Since the launch of the project, Association of architects of Lithuania  is not just coordinating the cultural project UREHERIT, but also analyzing the second topic of Today’s conference:  “Recommendations on holistic renovation of housing in Ukraine”  Svitlana Biriuk - PhD, NUAU; Paolo Cucchi - Paolo Cucchi Architects, CNAPPC; Iryna Matsevko - PhD in Philosophy History, vice-rector at Kharkiv School of Architecture; Svetlana Zakharova - architect, NSAU;  Bo Lagerqvist - Head of Register Unit at Swedish Companies Registration Office; Moderator: Ruta Leitanaite, UREHERIT coordinator, Architects Association of Lithuania.

Together with the help from NSAU, the project assembled a team of  8 experts in the field of architectural heritage for the work group “Holistic renovation of modernism housing". Diving deeper into the potential and future of modern housing built after World War II. The project will result in a set of recommendations.  During the last panel of the conference, experts expressed their opinions on the problematic aspects of training architects in Ukraine, the specifics of knowledge and levels of expertise for working with cultural heritage objects, and the current demand for specialists.   

“Capacity building with education and continued professional development in the practice” Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi - National Union of architects Ukraine (NUAU) president; Igor Lialiuk - professor, head of the third-year undergraduate BA Architecture, Kharkiv School of architecture; Martin Duplantier - president of the Architecture et Maîtres d'Ouvrage (AMO) association; Mia Geijer - Lecturer and PhD at Uppsala University Visby;  Moderator: Daria Ozhyganova Since UREHERIT launched Kharkiv School of Architecture together with Architects Sweden and NSAU participates in international dialogues on the reconstruction of Ukraine and acts as a partner organization in the European cultural project UREHERIT. Work is already underway on two educational programs - for students and certified architects.

The Ureherit Project CPD Ukraine released report D3.1 "Human Resource Needs for Sustainable Rebuilding with Heritage" presenting a comprehensive perspective on heritage as an integral component of Ukraine's democratic reconstruction towards a sustainable future. It advocates for tailored educational curricula at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, targeting disciplines such as architecture, urban planning, heritage documentation, and sustainable construction practices. Furthermore, it calls for the establishment of specialized training programs aimed at cultivating expertise in heritage conservation, damage assessment methodologies, and inclusive planning strategies. These initiatives are envisioned as collaborative endeavors, integrating insights from European best practices while nurturing local talent and knowledge-sharing platforms. Kharkiv School of Architecture with the help of project partners is already establishing advanced courses - critical reconstruction, adaptive reuse, and heritage - that integrate principles of sustainability, democracy, and cultural heritage preservation within architectural and urban planning frameworks. Concurrently, a focus on continuing professional development programs seeks to augment the pool of skilled practitioners equipped to navigate the complex challenges of post-conflict reconstruction. Conference ended with Summary by organizers : Olena Oliynyk, Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi, Ruta Leitanaite and Christer Larsson,  moderated by Pehr Mikael Sällström. During the next day, May 15th, we had an incredible matchmaking session in Stockholm where 12 selected teams presented their pilot projects. These presentations marked a significant milestone in a year-long capacity building program (CPD: Ukraine) for architects and planners. This program is dedicated to enhancing urban recovery while respecting heritage and promoting sustainable development. CPD: Ukraine aims to enhance an integrated approach where heritage recovery is combined with sustainable development thinking on links between social and ecological concerns and share examples from Ukraine, Europe and Sweden. The program will act at large, and advise on pilot projects to get support to develop their ideas with colleagues from all Europe.  Full conference program.

During the three-year UREHERIT project, European and Ukrainian heritage specialists, architects, planners, engineers, other professionals, officers of local authorities and communities of Ukrainian cities through research, workshops, public discussions, events, continuous professional development, and educational programs for architectural schools, is analyzing topics of protection and restoration of Ukrainian cultural heritage. Next conference will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania, 2025.  

The project is initiated by the Architects Association of Lithuania, co-financed by the European Union program "Creative Europe". Follow UREHERIT project on social media: www.ureherit.eu, FACEBOOK, Instagram, LinkedIn Contacts: [email protected]; [email protected]  Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author (s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. #ureherit #architectsforUkraine #WeStandWithUkraine #RecoverUkraine #CulturalHeritage #culture #buildbackbetter

Download the press release here.
Photo: UREHERIT