Heritage conservation and rejuvenation of urban landscape in the city along the lines of Italy is what the Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage (INTACH) and the Italian consulate is striving for, with the help of Italian and West Bengal universities.
Speaking at the launch of the book Yesterday Tomorrow- which chalks 50 years of urban conservation and innovation projects in Italy, Paolo Ceccarelli, a world renowned architect and urban planner, said “ A city rich in culture and heritage like Kolkata should take up heritage conservation projects which can not only be used as tourist attractions fetching more revenues but also become employment generation avenues.”
He mentioned some of the achievements made by Italy in this field in the last 50 years, be it the rejuvenation project in Prata- a small mining village developed into a attractive tourist location besides creating employment opportunities or the cultural preservation of Val d' Orcia, now included in the World Heritage List.
There is an urgent need to form a dedicated task force in the city, Ceccarelli said.
In order to facilitate this kind of healthy exchange of culture and technical expertise the Consulate General of Italy in Kolkata as a representative of top 11 Italian universities would sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with four state universities- Calcutta University, Jadavpur University, Rabindra Bharati University and Bardhaman university next month, said G M Kapur, convenor, West Bengal & Calcutta Regional Chapter, INTACH.
This would be a wide ranging MoU focusing mainly on sharing of expertise in the domain of cultural rejuvenation and restoration activity as practised in Italy which could be of help to Kolkata Municipal Corporation, he said.
