OWHC Young Travelling Scholarship - Organization of World Heritage Cities

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NEW Scholarship 2022 for Young People

After successful editions in 2018 and 2019, the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) with its Regional Secretariat for Northwest Europe and North America organizes for a third time a travel scholarship for young people. Equipped with a budget of up to 1.000 €, the winners of the scholarship program have the opportunity to discover World Heritage Cities and experience why our UNESCO World Heritage needs to be preserved.

This project is aimed at young people from ages 18 to 28 in order to make Europe’s and North America’s World Heritage a more tangible experience for the younger generation. Each traveler/team has to visit at least three different cities listed as World Heritage in at least two different countries, with at least two destinations being one of the member cities of the Regional Secretariat of Northwest Europe and North America. Otherwise, they are completely independent at planning their own trip.

The Travellers share their experience on this blog and keep everyone updated on social media (Instagram or Facebook) as they are discovering different World Heritage Cities. At the end of their trips they design a creative output (photographs, videos etc.) of their travels. The project intends to share World Heritage from different perspectives. Applications are taken from all over the world in order to represent different views on several heritage sites.

After receiving 87 applications from all around the world, nine winners have been chosen end of June 2022 by the team of the Regional Secretariat in Regensburg. The selection process was extremely hard as so many interesting travel plans and creative ideas were handed in. Thank you to all applicants for your efforts – we would have loved to grant the travel scholarship to all of you! Criteria for our selection were of course the concept of the suggested travel routes, the clear concept of World Heritage and its implications for our cities, and the creative output as well as experience with social media. We are sure that our chosen nine candidates/teams of travellers are representing a variety of backgrounds and approaches and are already curious to read about their travel experiences.

Meet our 2022 winners of the scholarship!

Amadej Petan & Tara Sergeja Kadunc

We met while studying international relations in Ljubljana but it wasn’t until we were discovering the UNESCO World Heritage Site of San Marino together, that something sparked between us. We found our common passion for exploring locations pivotal for the world today, discovering meanings behind the ostensibly unassuming, with a wish to understand the world better.

We will do the same within our OWHC travels, following our basic principles:

Being as culturally immersed as possible – Using Couchsurfing, hitchhiking, talking with people, trying to live the local life as fully as possible.
Travelling sustainably – Using public transportation, sharing rides, avoiding unnecessary plane rides, etc.
Respecting the local culture – travelling with the goal of understanding and discovering, not checking off a list of must-see sights and photography locations.

Through this, we often find ourselves at world heritage sites without intention, being drawn to locations significant to our civilisation, as well as places important to communities we know little about.
For us, world heritage is not just people’s culture, buildings and objects, it’s all of it combined. It’s the experience of entering a foreign country with no clue about your surroundings and then slowly unearthing the characteristics of local life.

Travel Route:
Augsburg – Regensburg – Istanbul – Safranbolu – Bam and further to the East…

Social Media:
Instagram: @tarassskadunc & @amadejpetan

Ana Carolina Helena

Carolina is a young portuguese enthusiast of cities as well as their material and immaterial heritage. Having studied both in Lisbon and Milan, she graduated with a Master’s degree in Architecture, after completing a thesis focused on post-war reconstruction and conservation.

With the OWHC Young Travelling Scholarship 2022, she will be travelling through several World Heritage Cities, from Berlin to Warsaw, led by her interest in the recent history of this part of Europe. Under the theme “Cities at War: Heritage Lessons from the 20th Century”, she aims to learn more and report on how different cities responded to the destruction left by armed conflict in the last century and discover the role their safeguarded heritage has on the promotion of vibrant communities and urban settlements today.

Travel Route:
Berlin – Potsdam – Dresden – Prague – Vienna – Kraków – Warsaw

Social Media:
Instagram: @cities_at_war

Gloria Maria Cavalieri & Elena Pompilio

Gloria:
Gloria Maria Cavalieri is a young cultural leader and activist; Research Master’s candidate in Cultural Leadership from the University of Groningen and a sustainability research trainee at the Pan-African Creative Exchange. Her research interest and expertise cover the cooperation between local communities and cultural centres in fostering sustainability, and sustainable management of cultural, industrial, and digital heritage.

She has a longstanding experience with NGO management and youth involvement from her ongoing leadership action in the European Youth Parliament as sustainability promoter in the Italian National Committee. She is a Member of the Steering Group of Europeana Climate Action Community and an European Climate Pact Ambassador.

Elena:
After graduating from Bocconi University in International Economics and Management and living in four countries – Italy, Australia, Japan, and France – in 2022 Elena graduated from HEC Paris with a Master Degree in Management of Media, Art and Creation. Her greatest aspiration is to work alongside artists in the production of music-related projects and artistic events.

She has spent her life developing her passions such as singing – in choirs, as a soloist, and in musicals – playing the piano, drawing and painting, and travelling around the world. Elena has extensive work experience both in NGOs – as a Creative Project Manager at the NGO El Camì de la Solidaritat, which she co-founded in
2020 – and in music and art production, distribution, and coordination projects.

Elena and Gloria are excited to be able to travel through the Netherlands and Belgium thanks to the OWHC Young Travelling Scholarship 2022. For them, the protection and enhancement of heritage is a personal priority, and they recognise the importance of communicating it with and to society. Elena and Gloria believe that tomorrow’s World Heritage will increasingly value sites that foster positive relations between man and nature and will progressively include more intangible heritage, such as local culture and practices. This is why they chose to take a different approach to the creative output and the travel to and between World Heritage Cities. Indeed, they plan to navigate Dutch and Belgian canals by sailboat and revitalize the watercolour and embroidery techniques while having active conversations on the sustainability of cultural heritage with the communities they meet.

Travel Route:
Wadden Sea – Leeuwarden – Harlingen – Afsluitdijk Wadden Centre – Hoorn – Beemster – Amsterdam – Den Haag – Bruges – Brussels

Social Media:
Instagram: @glogloci

Kyra Kaisla

Kyra Kaisla, born in Canada, lives in Vienna. She studies at the Academy of Fine Arts there under the documentary film makers Thomas Heise and Tizza Covi. In her spare time, she writes and produces a radio program with poetry in translation.

She is very much looking forward to travelling from the Baltic to the Adriatic Sea with her little car in September, through areas which she has been drawn through the writings of Czeslaw Milosz, Andrej Stasiuk, John Berger, and Isaac Bashevis Singer.

She can’t wait to try as many variations of Borscht and Goulash (her favourite food) as possible and to document the World Heritage cities of Riga, Latvia, Warsaw, Kraków, Banská Štiavnica, Budapest, Mostar and Dubrovnik with her camera and audio recorder.

Travel Route:
Warsaw – Kraków – Banská Štiavnica – Budapest – Mostar – Dubrovnik – Vienna

Social Media:
Instagram: @smallriverbanya

Lena Eisenreich

“Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations” reminds us of the rationale of preserving world heritage and youth’s role in taking an active lead.

I am Lena Eisenreich (24 yr), originally from the heart of Bavaria (Plattling). I have developed my cultural curiosity since I was a child with the dream of travelling to every country in the world and evolving myself in as many cultures as possible. I obtained a BA in European Business from OTH Regensburg and a MA in European Politics (Strasbourg-Kraków).

I consider myself a joyful, reflective world citizen and travel enthusiast. Travelling to over 60 countries has taught me invaluable life lessons, I always wish to explore one’s culture and country through not only its cultural sites but being involved within local communities.
Within 1 month (September) en route to Amsterdam, Beemster, Brussels, Bruges, Fontainebleau, and Bordeaux, I am most curious to explore the feelings of youth in and within the concept of a World Heritage city. Furthermore, I am intrigued by bringing the OWHC closer to its people.

Travel Route:
Amsterdam – Beemster – Brussels – Bruges – Fontainebleau – Bordeaux

Social Media:
Instagram: @lenaeisenreich

Philipp Strasser

Hello, my name is Philipp, I am 27 years old and I live in the amazing city of Salzburg which is also a world heritage city. I studied Geography and Geoinformatics and was therefore always curious about foreign countries and I really enjoy traveling. Besides that, I am also interested in culture, ecology and history.

My motivation to take part in the OWHC Young Travelling Scholarship is to explore and present cities that belonged to Hanseatic League, which was one of the first economic and also political union across national borders. I would like to find out how these cities in different countries with a common heritage look today and have developed.

Travel Route:
Vienna – Riga – Helsinki – Visby – Stralsund – Wismar – Naumburg

Social Media:
Instagram: @blau_und_schlau
Facebook: philipp.strasser.5

Stefan Župan

Born and raised in Ohrid where I deeply reveal my interests in photography, nature, and above all, architecture. Studied at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, and one of the founding members of Archrid- collective from Ohrid, exploring the architectural legacy and expansion throughout education, digitalization and promotion.

As an Archrid and Europa Nostra member, my interests collided with the vision and values of OWHC and their scholarship for young travelers that lets young people like myself explore and promote connectivity throughout the vastly diverse regions in Europe (and Northeast America).

The concept behind this project is a “bridge” that connects world heritage centers starting from Southeastern Europe, channeling throughout central and finishing in northwest Europe, such as Ohrid, Ljubljana, Vienna, Brussels… In a form of a publication enriched with architectural photography and vivid communication with both academic and non-professional locals.

The end product shall consist of the OWHC values, be a stimulant and promotor for the young people to threaten and respect the cultural heritage and one day be thankful for it in the future, as a famous quote says “Knowing our history is knowing ourselves”.

Travel Route:
Ohrid – Berat – Ljubljana – Vienna – Brussels– Amsterdam

Social Media:
Instagram: @zupsan.pdf
Facebook: Stefan Župan
Project page (Instagram): @archrid_project

Verena Schottenloher

I’m Verena, 25 years old, born in Regensburg. After finishing school, I decided to work in the tourism business and had the chance to promote my beautiful hometown as UNESCO World Heritage city. During my studies I worked for the German National Tourist Board in Copenhagen and represented Germany as a travel destination in Scandinavia.

UNESCO has always been an important topic in my professional career, and I have mainly promoted the World Heritage Sites in Germany. With the OWHC Young Travelling Scholarship finally dreams come true and I’ve got the chance to visit the US.

I am very excited about my trip and look forward to exploring the UNESCO sites on the east coast of America. Among other things, I would like to pursue my interest in art and architecture, but also visit various historical monuments – and especially compare this experience to the two small German World Heritage cities Regensburg and Bamberg. Let’s go!

Travel Route:
Regensburg – Bamberg – Philadelphia – New York

Social Media:
Instagram: @libertyid_owhc

Zoë Vandenhende

My name is Zoë, I am a Belgian student studying a master degree in International Cooperation on Intercultural Heritage in Italy. My passion for heritage and sustainability was sparked by growing up in Bruges, which is in my completely unbiased opinion one of the most magical World Heritage Cities.

During my studies, this interest evolved into an active advocacy for the importance of World Heritage and its preservation.
Going into my last year of studying, I am starting work on my master’s thesis relating to cultural heritage and climate change. Specifically, I want to research how the European Nordic countries have adapted to climate change in relation to their cultural and natural heritage, and whether other countries should implement their approach.

I look forward to traveling to several World Heritage Cities in the Nordic countries; visiting their heritage sites, meeting new people and learning more about local programs for the preservation of cultural heritage.

Travel Route:
Bruges – Stockholm – Visby – Oslo – Notodden – Bergen

Social Media:
Instagram: @zoevandenhende