The Heritage Resource Centre (HRC) has been established as one of the outcomes of the Sustainable Rehabilitation of Heritage Site Programme, implemented by ICOMOS Georgia and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway. The overall objective is to support the sustainable development process through heritage rehabilitation.
Within the programme, a showcase restoration of a traditional dwelling in Tbilisi was performed. A number of studies and capacity-building workshops on traditional building materials and techniques were conducted. Today the rehabilitated site shelters the Heritage Resource Centre for various activities, including capacity building, public awareness, cross-sectoral collaboration, and research.
Objectives of the HRC are:
1. To promote and integrate international conservation principles in heritage conservation through capacity-building activities.
2. To promote sustainable development and the Climate Change Emergency & Heritage initiative through cross-sectoral studies and research to fill gaps in understanding the potential and resources of heritage for community resilience.
3. To contribute to the New Bauhaus Initiative through the study, dissemination, and interpretation of traditional knowledge and practice.
4. To strengthen civil society and a participatory approach in the heritage sector through public awareness.
Currently, 3 training programmes - Structural analyses and conservation of historic buildings; Earth mortar use and conservation, and a Wood conservation - have been established and are carried out by ICOMOS Georgia, while public lectures by prominent scholars and conservationists are widely accessible for heritage communities.