The agreement was signed after the plenary session on ‘conservation and preservation of socio-cultural heritage of Kerala' on the second day of the summit.
Emerging Kerala 2012 summit witnessed a major step towards protecting its heritage with the Kochi Corporation entering into a tripartite joint cooperation programme with French city Lorient.
Vice-Mayor of Lorient Jean Paul Solaro and chairperson of the Indian Heritage Cities Network Foundation Rathi Vinay Jha signed the document in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The agreement was signed after the plenary session on ‘conservation and preservation of socio-cultural heritage of Kerala' on the second day of the summit.
The joint programme will foster the safeguarding and sustainable use of unique and diverse urban cultural heritage of the city, promote the physical nature and cultural heritage, traditions, crafts and creativity as driving forces of the urban development and generation of employment for a balanced socio-economic and cultural development, said an official press release issued after the event.
Lorient city, which has a historical relation with India for its association with the East India Company, will share its expertise in urban town planning and heritage conservation. The plan of action for 2012-’15 will be initiated soon. The activities to be taken up during the drive will include establishing of a Heritage House here with technical assistance from Lorient and organising technical workshops for incorporating heritage conservation in urban planning. The Heritage House will be engaged in spreading awareness about heritage conservation among public.
The IHCN Foundation will support the initiative by helping “develop international collaboration in academics of heritage conservation with professional institutions” in Kochi and Lorient.
The joint programme also aims at bringing in community participation in the heritage conservation initiative.
Keywords: Emerging Kerala, Kochi Corporation, Lorient, heritage conservation
