About the project
Abandoned and ruined churches, monasteries, dwelling caves from the Middle Ages, graveyards or prehistoric cult sites…Throughout remote areas in the South Caucasus one can find a large number of neglected cultural assets, that are in deep need of care and attention. Under the slogan “Crossing borders to save, preserve and care” this issue is currently addressed by the SOS Culture project which was launched in January 2012 by the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC).
With an overall duration of 24 months, the SOS Culture project is funded by the European Union within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Culture Program and is implemented by FPWC in cooperation with the dvv international – Georgia Country office and Research on Armenian Architecture Foundation. The overall EU contribution to SOS Culture project is 492,754 Euro.
The overall objective of the project is to register and preserve endangered cultural assets in the remote border regions of Armenia and Georgia with the involvement of local citizenry. Involvement of local communities will in its turn promote economic, social and cultural development in the areas, covered by the project.
The approach of the SOS Culture project is rooted in the idea that well preserved and explored historic sites have a tremendous positive influence on the creation of an environment, which nurtures sustainable economic, social and human development in remote and impoverished regions, making those regions attractive for tourists.
SOS Culture relies on the active involvement of youths (age 14 -23) from different national and ethnic origins living in the target areas of Armenia and Georgia. The young people participate in protection and research activities, implemented in the vicinity of their villages. These activities include cultural assets of different origins and religions, as well as pre-historic sites and medieval architectural monuments. By doing this, the project underlines that “Cultural assets belong to everybody”: regardless of nationality, religious faith or language, people living nearby a monument should care and preserve. This instils a new approach and knowledge about local cultural assets among the members of the youth clubs, established by FPWC and its Georgian project partner dvv international. Participating in the project activities, the members of the youth clubs support the cultural and touristic development of their regions.
Latest News
The success of Alaverdi SOS Culture youth club's cooperation with EU Eastern Partnership Programme
EU Eastern partnership programme for regional cooperation announced a new phase toward mutual meetings and partner searches. We received a letter which consisted of an application, which we completed and mailed to the address which was noted. After a few days, we received a reply to our completed application that our request was worthy of approval. After contacting director Varoujan Simonyan, they invited him to Georgia to discuss the future of the program. The participants at the meetings brief[more]
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Every year on the last Sunday in September there is a big feast in Varagavan village of Tavush region. At that time people are very joyful and excited, as the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is being celebrated in the church Nor Varagavank. The Monastery yard and its surrounding territory are crowded on that day. The members of SOS Culture youth club were enthusiastically waiting for the day. They have cleaned up the surrounding of the church beforehand, for the visitors to make a ple[more]
The visit of the Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou
On September 14th Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, and other European Union representatives were welcomed in the SOS Culture office in Yerevan. SOS Culture was the only project in the frame of the EuroEast Culture Programme visited by the Commissioner during her stay in Armenia. Ms. Vassiliou wanted to become acquainted with one of the EU’s projects, targeted towards the issues of education and culture. During the visit, the SOS Cultu[more]
Barbecue Festival 2013 in Akhtala
SOS Culture youth club members participated in another delicious festival. This time the festival took place in the beautiful city Akhtala and was devoted to one of the Armenian’s most appreciated dishes - barbecue. During the festival a very nice rock concert took place and several dance troupes also had performances. The SOS Culture project implemented by the Foundation for Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets also took part at the event as an organization which is very a[more]
Body Language
This time the children of SOS Culture had gathered together to discuss, reveal and assimilate the subject of “body language” --long discussions were developed on this topic, it was analyzed from the children’s point of view and different opinions were expressed. The body language is a rather complicated area, and our trainer Arus tried to give the most useful information to the children- something that everyone should know in order to have healthy relationship and to understand the[more]
