@ Luba Krutenko, 2024

What types of civil activism can be identified in the preservation and further development of the historical housing stock?

In our project we consider as civic practices all publicly performed actions, which in any form address the symbolic values, cultural and social meanings of historical built environments. They negotiate if to preserve, or not, certain physical places or objects or intangible events, and the way these are then managed. The non-heritage practices are taken into consideration, if they deal with preservation of historical built  environments.

Heritage activism is diverse in terms of scale, types of activities and the ways in which activists organise themselves. Protection campaigns and street protests, city walks, educational and volunteering events, mapping and observations, court appeals and negotiations with authorities - there are many activities through which citizens become activists and there are a variety of actions which activists use to negotiate heritage values and their own role in this negotiation.

Heritage activism is embedded in everyday life. It can be used by activists to create arenas where they communicate their understanding of today’s city life through discussions about the city past.