University of Primorska actively participates in the Transform4Europe project, meaning both professors and students of the Faculty of Humanities both take part in and participate in organizing of the T4EU various activities. The UNESCO Chair in Interpretation and Education for the Promotion of Integrated Approaches to Heritage basedat UP FHŠhas become one of the project’s contributors, organizing heritage-related lectures, exhibitions and events.
Connected activities:
The Garden of the (In)Visibles | Vrt (ne)vidnih, travelling exhibition, 01.03.2024
- Hrpelje (followed by openings in Koper/Capodistria, Triest, Val Rosandra/Dolina Glinščice – Italy, Brežice, Geneve -Switzerland; in June 2025 Brussels, Belgium…).
- https://fhs.upr.si/razstava-na-vrtu-nevidnih-v-medijih/
As a rounded conclusion to UP Week, the exhibition ‘The Garden of the (In)Visibles’ was opened in the Armory Hall of the University of Primorska. This project is part of an anthropological research study on migration. It was developed by the faculty professors and students of the University of Primorska in Koper and the University of Trieste (both universities are also partners in the European University T4EU project). As part of a cross-border exchange programme we travelled the borders between Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. This is where we discovered and collected objects that had been previously left in the woods or at the edge of residential areas. Items that are abandoned by people of a wide variety of diverse backgrounds from Asia and Africa after long and challenging journeys on foot. These are everyday objects. Objects that were regularly used to eat, sleep, dress, take shelter and heal. But they are also artefacts that reveal the spiritual and intimate sphere of the people who left them behind. Shedding these possessions and leaving them behind is a sign of the transition to a new stage of life, a sign of rebirth. These piles of discarded objects at the edge of the forest or by the side of the road, which we ignore or dismiss as rubbish, actually lead us to an essential political and moral question of our time. We have therefore selected a small number of these objects to create and stage “In the garden of the (in)visibles”. A travelling exhibition that symbolizes the presence of the Invisibles, and fosters encounters between the people who cross borders and the people who live there; that asks a very important question: What do we (not) want to see?
Keynote speakers, who participated in the opening of the exhibition, are Saša Likavec Svetelšek (Mayor of Hrpelje-Kozina), Sandy Klub (Mayor, Dolina pri Trstu), Sandi Curk (Commander of the Civil Protection), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jure Gombač (ZRC SAZU, Ljubljana), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Roberta Altin (University of Trieste), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Katja Hrobat Virloget (University of Primorska).
T4EU week at University of Primorska, 24.05.2024
The University of Primorska, in collaboration with the University of Trieste, organized the first T4EU week in the new series of weeks of the European University Transform4Europe between 20 and 24 May, 2024. During this week, the Faculty of Humanities offered students the opportunity to attend the course Heritage beyond Borders for Societal Transformation: Interpretation and Education, which was conducted by colleagues from the Department of Archaeology and Heritage of the UP FHŠ (Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Katja Hrobat Virloget, Assist. Prof. Dr. Zrinka Mileusnić) and colleagues from the University of Trieste.
The course covered the main topics in the frame of The UNESCO Chair in Interpretation and Education for Enhancing Integrated Heritage Approaches at the University of Primorska and aimed to raise the understanding and importance of heritage interpretation and the transfer of knowledge about heritage into education. Participants learned about the basics of heritage interpretation; through lectures and fieldwork, they learned and understand what processes take place in the process of heritage interpretation; they gained knowledge about infrastructure interpretation and about the use and design of specific didactic tools. At the end of the course, participants were able to recognize the values, prepare the interpretation plan for a particular heritage of their choice and prepare a concept plan for at least one didactic tool. Students worked in groups and through mentored research learned about the best practices in heritage interpretation. As part of this course, participants went on field trips to Dolina, while in Koper they learned more about the historical and cultural context and interpretation of the heritage of Museum Square, which has been marked by numerous architectural and urban changes.
T4EU Networking event + Scientific cafe
Between September 4 and 5 the University of Primorska was a hub for researchers from various disciplines, who were brought together by the question of what role heritage plays in today’s rapidly changing world, where we are witnessing constant changes in climate, society, and politics. Both doctoral students and young researchers gathered in Koper at the Faculty of Humanities for a networking event organized by the Transform4Europe university alliance, where they exchanged their experiences, working methods and, in mutual dialogue, explored ideas for future cooperation. Organized and led by Assist. Prof. Neža Čebron Lipovec, Prof. Daniela Koleva from the University of Sofia, Prof. Irena Lazar, and Assist. Prof. Zrinka Mileusnić. They sought synergies in interactive workshops that encouraged lively and active participation and discussion.
On the first day the event coincided with the T4EU science café on the topic of critical heritage. Critical heritage studies today are primarily devoted to the analysis of discursive practices of defining and using heritage, i.e. the constant reflection and redefinition of cultural values by various factors. Assist. Prof. Neža Čebron Lipovec from UP FHŠ, together with Prof. Daniela Koleva, a guest from the University of Sofia, led a discussion on views of heritage in the post-socialist era. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Irena Lazar, head of the UNESCO Chair at UP FHŠ, who guided the debate with questions about what kind of critical heritage the speakers deal with in their research and what impact the rapidly changing world has on heritage and its role in the modern world.