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Community-based heritage conservation that privileges indigenous knowledge

Models Project Information
Proj ID: 

Model03

Proj Subject: 

Community-based heritage conservation that privileges indigenous knowledge

Proj Name: 

Leh Old Town Project

Proj Purpose: 

To rehabilitate the capital of Ladakh by improving the infrastructure and developing a planning framework in partnership with the local community

Proj Time Frame: 

2003-present
Phase 1 (2003-2006): survey, restoration and training
Phase 2 (2006 onwards): initiating micro-finance enterprises

Proj Method & Activities: 

Phase 1: The Project began in 2003 when Tibet Heritage Fund (THF) learned of Leh’s state of decline and came to document its historic monastic structures. They returned in 2004 to conduct a survey of local households which showed: (a) the poor housing and drainage conditions among the low-income residents, (b) a decreasing population with local people migrating out of the town at a time when tourism was beginning to flourish, (c) the religious tension between Leh’s Buddhist and Muslim communities, and (d) the loss of local traditional skills. This survey granted local residents a means by which to identify the areas that most immediately needed intervention in order to halt the town’s decline. With the help of THF, the townspeople of Leh organized themselves and a local team of community members (mainly women) and local experts who were willing to contribute to the rehabilitation efforts was established. In targeting individuals who would form part of the local team (later registered as a local NGO called LOTI or Leh Old Town Initiative), THF depended on people’s traditional networks.

As a result of THF’s lobbying efforts, the government declared the site a Leh Heritage Zone in 2004. In the same year, conservation work on a pilot rehabilitation project (consisting of one alleyway, four of the houses that lined the alley and a shrine) began. Modernizing the traditional houses involved repairing roofs (i.e., removing the corrugated iron that in recent years had protected roofs from rainfall and coming up with a more effective solution to the thin layer of mud that served to waterproof homes), improving the composting toilet system inside the houses, and enlarging the windows for better light and ventilation. It also entailed fixing the drainage and paving the pathway that connected the houses. The low-cost housing improvements made use of indigenous building skills and local materials. Traditional architecture (i.e., flat-roofed houses made of clay/mud brick upon a timber frame on a stone foundation) was preserved as the best suited, most sustainable building strategy for the climate of the earthquake-sensitive district. Expenses for the home renovations were shouldered by both the homeowner and THF closely following a successful model THF had used in a previous project in Lhasa whereby the work was financed through a 50-50 arrangement between THF and homeowner. Labor was contributed by community members and depended largely on the input of local craftsmen and artisans.

After undertaking renovations on a place of worship and noting the amount of work that would be necessary to protect the wall murals in many of the monasteries in Leh, THF/LOTI began training selected local residents in mural cleaning, stabilization and painting conservation. Workshops and training sessions were held in the restored shrine and a few individuals traveled to Germany for further technical conservation training.

The construction activities allowed for greater participation of women, raised standards for building quality and provided training to residents (as masons, plaster experts, roof builders, drain builders) thus, preparing them for employment in conservation projects. Where necessary, Tibetan and local Chinese building experts were brought in, facilitating an exchange of knowledge and expertise with other Himalayan communities.

The pilot was completed in 2005 and, on the heels of the successful rehabilitation of this neighborhood, the Project team received requests from other homeowners hoping to participate in subsequent renovations. Numbering among their restoration efforts today is the conversion of one monk’s former residence into the Leh Heritage House which holds information about the Project, offers an exhibit about the town’s past and serves as a modern art gallery and a gathering space for the community.

Phase 2: Working with the Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, THF/LOTI is in the process of creating small enterprises to jumpstart industry in Leh. Some businesses focus on the tourist trade promoting traditional Tibetan arts and crafts, while others are expected to form part of the service industries (e.g., food, tours).

Models Coverage
Location: 

Leh, Ladakh, India

Leh is a sparsely populated town situated in the Indian Himalayas which can boast of 15th- and 16th-century architecture. It became the royal capital of the region in the 17th century. Prior to the Project, the main livelihood of its low-income inhabitants was in trade and agriculture.

Models Financing
Funding Agency: 

Funds were sourced from THF, private foreign funds and local financing schemes, with some contribution from the municipal government.

Following the initial success of the pilot project, THF sought financial assistance which they received in the form of German aid money and private contributions. A number of foreign organizations sponsored portions of the project in 2006: the Embassy of Finland in New Delhi, Trace Foundation in New York, InWent Germany, Schweizer Tibethilfe, Liechtenstein Development Service, Albert-Kunstadter-Family-Foundation, and Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung.

In 2003, the Project operated on a budget of US$12,000. In 2004, its budget had doubled to US$ 25,000. By 2006, it had increased to US$ 63,500.

Models Organization
Mod Org Name: 

The project was initiated by Tibet Heritage Fund (THF) but is mainly a result of the partnership between this international NGO and the locally formed group, Leh Old Town Initiative (thus, it is considered a THF/LOTI project).

Org Project Director: 

André Alexander (Director of Tibet Heritage Fund, an international NGO that seeks to protect Tibetan culture, especially its heritage architecture)

Org Resources: 

Much of the renovation work during Phase 1 was completed by a team of THF experts and staff, a government engineer, community members and local builders.
Following the initial success of the pilot, the Project received administrative support from the local authority, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Leh (LAHDCL), which made improvements to the public drainage system.

After training in Leh for a two-year period, student-conservators traveled to Germany for further training at the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences. German conservation students from Erfurt University and specialists from the National Research Laboratory for Conservation and Restoration of National Cultural Heritage (LNC) in Romania have also traveled to Leh to assist in on-site mural paintings conservation work.

Phase 2 is currently being undertaken with the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights.

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Jammu and Kashmir Chapter) supported the restoration of a mosque in the town in 2006.

Org Mailing Address: 

Tibet Heritage Fund International
Berliner Str. 68
Berlin 13189, Germany

Leh Old Town Initiative
Lakruk House, Stalam
Leh, Ladakh
194101 J&K INDIA

Models Outcome
Material Type: 

(1) Renovation of a number of residential and religious structures

(2) Generated a database of information about the town and its buildings from surveys and subsequent scientific investigations conducted in pursuit of conservation and restoration work

Models Evaluation
Status: 

In 2006, the Leh Old Town Project was selected by UN Habitat as one of a number of Best Practices for Improving the Living Environment and received the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment. In the same year, it received Honorable Mention in the Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation from UNESCO. In 2008, THF received Travel + Leisure magazine’s Global Vision Award for Historic Preservation for their involvement in the Project. At present, THF/LOTI is working with the local government to generate a masterplan for urban planning, waste and water management.

Selection Criteria & Results of Initiative: 

This is a case study in culture- and gender-sensitive urban development and sustainable tourism that focuses on the process of heritage conservation as much as it does on the visible results.

The project shows that heritage conservation can be used as a strategy for community rehabilitation and revitalization when it takes into account the sociological and anthropological dimension of heritage protection instead of focusing purely on protecting the built environment. The Leh Project achieved its goals by advocating a holistic, multidimensional approach – improving urban poor housing conditions, raising health and hygiene standards, while at the same time providing employment and skills-building opportunities for the local community.

The participatory process turned the local community and the municipal government into stakeholders with vested interest in the success of the initiative. Involving the low-income residents so closely in the revitalization efforts protects them (to a certain extent) from displacement as a result of gentrification of the area. By providing major religious groups in the area with an opportunity to work together toward a common goal, the Project helped ease some of the tension between the two. Furthermore, it demonstrated to the local community the importance of their traditional architecture and of reviving forms of indigenous knowledge.

Conservation of the whole district protected the context as well as the individual buildings themselves.

THF has received requests from NGOs elsewhere in Asia (i.e., Indonesia, Vietnam, Iran) to assist in community-led revitalization efforts.

Applicability to Philippine Setting: 

The Leh Old Town Project follows the same model of community organizing efforts in the Philippines. It advocates a participatory approach to the resolution of issues and goes beyond the rhetoric to show how this can be done with some degree of success. The model is one that Philippine POs, organizers and target beneficiaries are already familiar with and, presumably, is one in which their experience with the process could be an advantage.

The IPC297 project and other heritage groups have already laid the groundwork for documenting and assessing the significance of heritage architecture in Manila and elsewhere in the country. All that might be required would be to identify the appropriate partner community, confirm the choice pending an in-depth evaluation of its socioeconomic and cultural context, and pool together a team of heritage conservation specialists who could work with the selected community.

Co-financing restoration projects with homeowners makes funding conservation work more feasible. Project funds can be applied to a greater number of houses/buildings since beneficiaries would invest in the scheme as well.

Possible Benefits: 

Community revitalization through heritage conservation offers an alternative solution to issues of housing, unemployment, and lack of skills/capability among low-income members of society.

Involving non-specialists very closely in the work of preservation generates an appreciation for heritage among a wider base of people and instills in them a sense of place. As stakeholders, beneficiaries will be more acutely aware of the identity of the area and active participants in the drive to protect it.

A project such as this could serve to protect intangible heritage (i.e., indigenous knowledge) while at the same time conserving tangible, immovable heritage (i.e., built environment).