Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra

• Ground transport infrastructure (planned by-pass road project and conversion of the bazaar into a pedestrian area in Gjirokastra)
• Housing
• Illegal activities (illegal construction dating from the late 1990s and later on)
• High impact research/monitoring activities (lack of specific monitoring indicators)
• Governance (lack of detailed tourism development plan and lack of programme of archaeological excavations)
• Management activities (e.g. restoration work at the Berat Castle)
• Management System/Management Plan
• Other factors (lack of adequate firefighting arrangements in the historic urban zones)

Total amount granted: USD 1,367,014 is provided by the Albanian Government within the framework of the project 933ALB4000 “Safeguarding and restoration of selected monuments within the World Heritage site of the Old City of Gjirokastra – Albania”

On 26 February 2024, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/569/documents/. Progress on a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions is presented as follows:

• Under the ‘Revitalization Bonus’, an annual initiative of the then Ministry of Culture, 12 restoration projects were implemented and 14 are underway in the Historic Centre of Gjirokastra and its buffer zone, while 16 restoration projects are underway in the Historic Centre of Berat and its buffer zone;
• Two separate plans for the preservation, protection and administration of the Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra and their buffer zones were approved in December 2023;
• The Integrated Management Plan (IMP) has not been completed due to several changes at management and technical staff levels, and a current lack of human resources and expertise. The State Party foresees to request a meeting with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to discuss the way forward. Once finalised, the IMP will be legally binding;
• The development of a comprehensive long-term development strategy for the property, including tourism management, was considered in the preparation of the draft IMP;
• The State Party has communicated to its public institutions and interested stakeholders in and outside the cultural heritage system the importance of conducting Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs) and the publication of the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, and has requested the urgent submission of HIAs for all ongoing projects within the Project for Integrated Urban and Tourism Development (PIUTD);
• The State Party requests to be informed of capacity-building activities on HIA procedures and methodologies;
• Several PIUTD projects have been completed and others are ongoing in Berat and Gjirokastra;
• A full independent HIA, which should include a landscape study of the valley, will be undertaken for the completed Gjirokastra bypass road;
• The mobility plan and the bypass road in Gjirokastra do not overlap, but the State Party will follow up with the Albanian Development Fund to include the road in the mobility plan under development;
• In order to limit the occurrence of illegal construction, the plans for the preservation, protection and administration of the Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra and their buffer zones prohibit new construction affecting cultural monuments and their buffer zones, as well as construction of an industrial nature, with the exception of handicraft workshops in the buffer zone. Illegal constructions are dealt with in accordance with the law;
• Maintenance was undertaken, including at the Gjirokastra Castle, where the National Folklore Festival was held.

The progress made in improving the state of conservation and protection of the property through the Revitalization Bonus initiative and in upgrading urban regulations through the approval by the Council of Ministers of two separate plans for the ‘preservation, protection and administration’ of the Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra and their buffer zones is welcomed. However, in a Technical Review, ICOMOS stressed the importance of clarifying the interlinkages between the yet to be finalised IMP and the plans. ICOMOS noted the importance of ensuring that all planning and management instruments work together to protect and maintain the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) by clarifying the differences between the previous regulations and the plans, ensuring specific reference to the OUV throughout, and specifying which policies are appropriate for the maintenance, future use and development of the property. A change of pace and increased commitment by all actors concerned, from the State Party to the municipal level, would be required to ensure that an adequate system of protection and management is in place. In addition, the State Party has not reported any progress in the development of an integrated urban conservation and development tool, which would also contribute to the diversification of the development plans for the property, as requested by the Committee in its Decision 45 COM 7B.51. It is recommended that the integrated urban conservation and development tool be developed in line with the implementation of the UNESCO 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation).

The provisions contained in the two aforementioned plans, including the prohibition of both new construction that may affect the cultural monuments and their surroundings and construction of an industrial nature in the buffer zones of the property, are welcomed. The Committee may nevertheless wish to encourage the State Party to continue its efforts to limit illegal construction activities in the property.

It is regrettable that the IMP could not be finalised following the International Assistance provided by the World Heritage Fund, with technical assistance provided by ICOMOS and ICCROM between March and June 2023. The State Party should be urged to prepare an updated draft IMP as a matter of urgency, taking into account the comments and recommendations already provided by the Advisory Bodies, and with the active involvement of the local authorities of Berat and Gjirokastra. Further assistance from the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in finalising the IMP should be based on a draft IMP updated on the basis of previous assistance.

It is also regrettable that the construction of the Gjirokastra bypass road has now been completed without an HIA being submitted to the World Heritage Centre as requested by the Committee. Consequently, opportunities for mitigation measures to avoid adverse impact on the OUV of the property are no longer feasible. The State Party should urgently complete an HIA of the Gjirokastra bypass road for submission to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies.

The adverse individual and cumulative impacts of the Gjirokastra bypass road and various development projects, including those of the PIUTD, on the OUV of the property have not been comprehensively assessed. A long-term vision for the development of the entire property, as requested in the previous decision of the Committee, has not been developed. Therefore, the Committee may wish to request to the State Party to undertake an integrated HIA that would assess the impact of the numerous infrastructure and development projects within or in the wider setting of the property, including individual ongoing PIUTD projects, both individually and cumulatively, against the state of conservation, integrity and authenticity of the property at the time of its inscription.

Neither sufficient nor substantial progress has been reported on the implementation of the recommendations of the 2021 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission. The State Party should be urged to fully implement these, with particular attention to those highlighted in the Committee’s previous decision.

The details of development projects that may have an impact on the property’s OUV have not been submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies. Therefore, the Committee may wish to reiterate its request to the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, details of the development projects that may have an impact on the property’s OUV.