The world stays with young people, and it is the youngsters who are agents of change for the better. What is their legacy in Kosovo? Do they take care of cultural monuments and nurture traditions?

This year's European Heritage Days are a celebration of Inclusive and Diverse Heritage, emphasizing that interaction between individuals and communities with diverse backgrounds can enrich our lives. UNDP Kosovo is implementing the Cultural Heritage as a Driver for Intercommunity Dialogue and Social Cohesion project funded by the European Union and its Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace — precisely with the aim to actively involve young people in respecting their heritage, building it and preserving it. Through this project, we came across fantastic young people for whom cultural heritage, in any shape or form, is something special.

These young people are role models for others and their contribution to the preservation of cultural monuments is already immeasurable. Through the Cultural Heritage project, which UNDP Kosovo has been implementing for four years now, young people from Kosovo of all ethnicities and nationalities are participating in camps for the restoration of cultural monuments and places of public importance. These young people, dedicated to the care of their heritage, gather, learn, and work diligently to cleanse and restore them.

Just recently, we met one of them. Melisa Syla, an architect from Pristina, participated in several restoration camps when she was in her final year at the University of Prishtina, studying architecture. We met in the old town in front of Sahat Kulla, one of the oldest monuments in the capital of Kosovo. It dates from the 19th century and manifests an example of architecture representing economic development and the beginning of the Western influence on the Ottoman architecture of the time in Kosovo. “Sahat” means “clock”, so this tower was meant to show the time and serve as a landmark for giving directions. We met Melisa there.

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