Following the successful organization of the COST Action TU1306 Training School “Hybrid Heritagescapes as Urban Commons in Mediterranean Cities: accessing the deep-rooted spatial interfaces of cities” by CyI’s STARC, held in Nicosia between 30 October and 3 November 2017, representatives of the participating groups of graduates were recently awarded Short Term Scientific Mission grants.

During the workshop trainees had the opportunity to learn about the rich history of Nicosia and be occupied with the repurposing of the moat of the medieval fortification of the old city from being used as parking space, and other fragmentary private uses, into a public space that highlights one of the few legacies that unite the two sides of the divided city, that is, its Medieval Walls. Motivated by this work, Francesco Bagni (partner at Too design consultancy and collaborator of Animali Sociali Studio, a practice focusing on participative methodologies development for public spaces) and Constantinos Miltiadis (University Assistant at the Institute of Architecture and Media at TU Graz) will be funded by the COST Action to visit Nicosia and collaborate with local stakeholders of the city to further develop their proposed ideas under the guidance of STARC staff, led by Assist. Professor G. Artopoulos.

These projects aim to enhance the perceived image and identity of the moat and Medieval Walls of the city of Nicosia in the local life of citizens and tourists. The first Short Term Scientific Mission explores ways to communicate and engage local communities in a pro-active use of the monument (the moat), and create opportunities for an open management of cultural heritage interpreted as commons. The second Short Term Scientific Mission is occupied with the creation of spatially-distributed storytelling for the promotion of the history of the Medieval walls of the city by exploiting the software and communities of Geocaching (<www.geocaching.com>), cf. http://studioany.com/projects/daphnes-diary/. The Training School received support from the Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus, in addition to the COST Action TU1306, while both Short Term Scientific Missions will be pursued in collaboration with the Municipality of Nicosia and the Leventis Municipal Museum.

This activity is aligned with STARC’s long lasting research interest in the study of Mediterranean cities and the safeguarding of build heritage and cultural rights of the communities that inhabit the divided capital. For more information on the Training School please visit: http://cyberparks-project.eu/training-schools