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. 

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Latest News

A Big Thank You to Gog

This is not an official article but more a private Thank You letter which I decided to post online. The reason is that I want everyone to know about a brilliant person that I had a chance to meet and work with. Her name is Gohar Ghandilyan and for me “my Gog”. Thank you for everything. These words are not enough, I know. It has been a pleasure working with you but more importantly it's an honour to know you. Every end is a new beginning. Good luck! Your Ag[more]


Film Shooting in Varagavan

Members of the SOS Culture team have spent two sunny afternoons on June 14th and 15th in Varagavan shooting a movie on a local monument Nor Varagavank Monastery. The monastery was founded in the 12th century, and unfortunately now is in a neglected state. The aim of the movie is to raise awareness and promote protection of cultural assets like Nor Varagavank. Young members of the SOS Culture youth club in Varagavan joined the team and helped in shooting.  [more]


Summarizing the year in Akhtala youth club

On June 10th Akhtala SOS Culture youth club organized a wonderful event celebrating one year of the project. Many guests were invited to be present at the event. The room where the event took place was decorated with posters, pictures, brochures, certificates telling everyone the story of the SOS Culture project in the Akhtala community. All the guests received a warm welcome from young members and their local coordinator Tanya Paranyan. Among the guests were the mayor of Akhtala H. Khachikyan, [more]


Maintaining healthy lifestyle

Within SOS Culture project our youth clubs had a very interesting training course on healthy lifestyle which took place on April 27th, in Alaverdi, May 9th in Varagavan and 15th in Akhtala. Soon the same training will take place in Berdavan. The aim of the course was to insure that our youth club members are knowledgeable in health and lifestyle issues. Many people nowadays have developed an interest in learning how to maintain a healthy lifestyle which includes nutrition, hygiene as well as spi[more]


Photo Contest

On May 31 an amazing Photo Contest took place in Koda in the Region of Qvemo Kartli, Georgia. The photo competition and the exhibition was organised within the frame of EU funded SOS Culture project. The event was prepared by the dvv international Georgia Country Office which is the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verband e.V., DVV). Youth club members from Bolnisi, Koda, Shaumiani and Dmanisi took part in the[more]