Veria

Though Veria is rich in cultural assets, their state of preservation is not satisfactory, especially in the case of historic buildings which suffer from abandonment, because they do not respond to the contemporary standards of life. In addition , techniques for their proper conservation and re-adaptation are lacking, as well as trained personnel of different disciplines and trades.

However, the sizes of the buildings and the law building density in the protected areas have a strong potential for a high quality of houses, and better standards of living in the heart of the city, when properly restored and re-adapted. This will also help to the improvement of the image of the historic centre and the development of cultural tourism which has a strong potential in the area, thus helping the local economy, prosperous in the past and in decline nowadays.

Within this scope, the key challenges the Municipality of Veria would like to address within the LINKS project are, amoung others, the development of an action plan which will respond to the above problems by developing methodologies and proposals for :

• The development of environmentally friendly techniques for the restoration of historic buildings
• The exploration of administrative and financial tools
• Facing the needs for proper training
• The active participation and support of inhabitants and different actors involved in the whole process of protection and restoration