Ralph BODENSTEIN | Felicia MEYNERSEN
(German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, Germany)

Abstract:
“Stunde Null – A Future after the Crisis” is the first joint project launched by the Archaeological Heritage Network (ArcHerNet) in 2016, in response to the ongoing crisis in Syria and neighboring countries in the region. In line with the recommendations of the UNESCO Action Plan, updated during the UNESCO Expert Meeting „Emergency Safeguarding of Syria’s Cultural Heritage“ held in Berlin on June 2-4, 2016, the „Stunde Null“ project aims at combining competences, enhancing coordination, and amplifying concerted capacity building in support of experts and communities for the safeguard and future of cultural heritage in Syria and the region.
The project is carried out by German and international partners, with funding by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Gerda Henkel Foundation, and is coordinated by the German Archaeological Institute (DAI). The joint project is composed of complementary modules that comprise a broad range of measures. These include capacity building, specialised training courses and university programmes in partnership with local institutions in the region, awareness raising, as well as collaborative projects for building data bases, digital inventories, and information systems that are needed for the documentation, conservation and restoration of cultural heritage in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries. One central and basic component is the „Syrian Heritage Archive Project“ (SHAP), an extensive database built in collaboration between the Museum for Islamic Art in Berlin and the DAI, which serves as a basis for several further innovative digital heritage projects in the framework of „Stunde Null“.
The measures serve to support students, craftsmen, heritage specialists, and future decision-makers in the region with the knowledge and skills needed in order to enable them to preserve their heritage and plan their country’s future after the crisis.
The poster will present an overview of the „Stunde Null“ project and its major components.