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Some advice about methodology


According to the F.W.T. concept, the project must be the starting point, not the consequence, of the social consensus and the strategy; it is the meeting point and the reason for the group to get together.

The first step is to carefully study the surroundings and how to improve the quality of life in terms of culture, economics, respect of the environment, education and professional training for the young; think about the respect for traditions linked to the territory and the people. How are they linked and how their evolution may interact? Finally, gather all the clues to trace the local human history enhancing the more significant values so that culture will play a fundamental role for the future.

The next step is to elaborate a strategy for developing the project:

The strategy will have to cope with rather widespread difficulties such as: lack of concern, lack of understanding or financial problems.

Interestingly, if the community involved in the activity expresses itself through financial support, even modestly, it shows there is a real social basis which feels responsible for the project.

The initial promoter group must always be in control of the project especially when looking for private or public sponsorship: at any time it must make the decisions and be the guarantor, (the sole guarantor ), for their conformity to the principles and values selected at the beginning.

It is also necessary to be cautious about the budget at first because it might reduce the independence of the project and because it is important to look for an alternative to

" Blockbuster " activities. It isn't the amount of the budget that makes the project valid.

At this point useful advice can be taken from other national or international associations. Comparing with others will reinforce the project and the international cooperation will value it even more in the community.

The last step is information and awareness of the public and the schools using teacher training, exchange groups of students, and so on, because practical actions are necessary to reach this broader audience.

Generally speaking, in order to establish itself the F.W.T. project must show a sustainable coherence:

- in selecting the values and principles

- in giving culture a special part to play

- in the actions that follow even in the long run

CONCLUSION

It is only when monuments, sites and traditions have recovered a real significance and actual value for the community and for other people that you can say they have been well preserved.

It is this " adoption " by local people that " Friends of the World Treasures " wants to encourage so that the relationships between different cultures can develop on the basis of a LIVING HERITAGE.

The selected projects undertaken by associations or clubs are the reason for " Friends of the World Treasures " networks existance.

"THE SUCCESS OF SUCH A NETWORK DEPENDS ON CHOOSING PROJECTS BOTH REALISTIC AND AMBITIOUS THAT SHOW COHERENCY WITH THE MEANS OF THE CLUB AND INVOLVEMENT OF THE BROADER PUBLIC" (Confluences, No 13. 1/89).

Sabine Avril, Francesco Piva

Padova, 1995