The Heritage Management Organisation is pleased to announce the launch of a new project to protect Ukraine’s cultural heritage on September 27th. Architectural Heritage Preservation in Times of War: The Ukrainian Model is a two-year project implemented by the Heritage Management Organisation, the Kharkiv School of Architecture (evacuated to Lviv), and Skeiron. It is generously supported by the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine*. 

The project will train 30 third-year students of architecture in 3D documentation, architectural documentation, heritage analysis, conservation assessment, international conservation standards, and the local regulations. The teaching will combine theoretical and practical components, including on-the-job training that will result in datasets usable in conservation. In the first year, in addition to 20 students from the Kharkiv School of Architecture, the project will train 10 students from Kherson, Odessa, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Lviv, and Chernivtsi.

The initiative will also provide training to two cohorts of academics from architectural schools across Ukraine, supporting them in establishing architectural conservation curricula in their institutions. 

“Heritage studies is a relatively new field for Ukrainian universities. The current war has highlighted a lack of modern restoration and documentation experts. Through participation in this project, our university aims to address the needs of future architects and the broader Ukrainian society by training specialists who can preserve, document, and integrate heritage into sustainable urban and community development. We are excited to collaborate with Skeiron, Ukrainian experts in digital documentation, and the HERITAGE team, whose international expertise is vital to the success of this initiative,” said Dr Iryna Matsevko, Chancellor of the Kharkiv School of Architecture. 

Project Launch

The project opened with a discussion on ‘Planning for the Post-War Rehabilitation of Ukraine’s Architectural Heritage’. Hosted by the Kharkiv School of Architecture and moderated by Dr Maja Kominko, Director of Projects at HERITΛGE,  the panel brought together Ukrainian and international experts. Liliya Onyshchenko, Advisor to the Mayor of Lviv on the protection of the historical environment and former Head of the Department of Historic Environment Protection of Lviv City Council, and Ihor Poshyvaylo, co-founder of the Heritage Emergency Response Initiative (HERI) and a member of the National Council for the Recovery of Ukraine from the War, spoke about their experience in heritage protection during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Yuriy Prepodobnyi, co-founder of Skeiron and the #SaveUkrainianHeritage initiative discussed the urgency of documentation. Dr. Iryna Matsevko, the Chancellor of the Kharkiv School of Architecture and a historian, outlined the challenges of forming a new generation of architects who can meet the challenges of post-war rehabilitation of the heritage of Ukraine.  Saleem Al-Mennan, a conservation architect, complemented the discussion by speaking about his extensive experience with post-war rehabilitation projects in Iraq, including projects supported by the American Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation.

*Views expressed do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government.