Moscow’s Strelka Institute to partner with UNESCO

The Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design is set to partner with UNESCO to conduct a study on the role of culture in the sustainable development of cities in 11 countries of the former Soviet Union.

Specialists at Strelka will identify regional approaches to the conservation of cultural heritage and analyse the problems facing authorities and public organisations working in this field. A separate part of the project will focus on the cities that embody best practice with regard to using cultural heritage and industry as a stimulus for development. The research will be carried out in all nations of the former USSR, except Moldova and the Baltic states.

The results of the study will be presented at the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, to be held in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016. The findings presented and discussions held at the conference will set the global agenda for urban studies over the next 20 years.

“We are faced with a very challenging and interesting task: to study how culture impacts upon the development of cities in post-Soviet space. We are glad that Strelka’s expertise in the field of urban development has been recognised by UNESCO,” stated the director of the Strelka Institute, Varvara Melnikova.

The Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design, located in Moscow, was founded in 2009. It offers an educational programme in urban development studies, publishes books on architecture and design, and offers an open summer course every year. This year Strelka will offer for the first time a five-month programme entitled “Hybrid Urbanism”, for which it is looking to attract participants from a wide range of countries.