Enhancing the historic centre of the Greek city of Rhodes

At the beginning of 2022, the CMN Institut was called upon by the International Cultural Expertise Mission of the Ministry of Culture as part of a collaboration with the Hellenic Organisation for the Development of Cultural Resources (HOCRED). The nature of this request was to help set up a project to restore and enhance the historic centre of the Greek town of Rhodes, under the responsibility of HOCRED. The decision to entrust this project to the CMN Institut was based on the possibility for the organisation to provide high-quality expertise in cultural engineering, particularly in the context of the enhancement and promotion of heritage monuments and sites. On a broader level, the HOCRED project is part of the cooperation between Greece and France, and this association between the two institutions will strengthen relations between the two countries in the field of cultural cooperation.

This cooperation began with an exploratory phase aimed at making a precise diagnosis of the needs and expectations of the restoration and enhancement project, as well as establishing its priority objectives. To this end, Cécile Rives, an expert from the CMN network (administrator of the conciergerie, the Sainte-Chapelle and the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris) visited the site and held discussions with HOCRED. At the same time, the CMN Institut welcomed two HOCRED professionals to Paris in September 2022 to enable them to take part in the Maison & Objet trade fair and to assess future trends for 2023, with a view to expanding the offerings of the bookshop-boutiques of the Rhodes cultural sites. At the end of March 2022, two other HOCRED professionals were welcomed to Paris by the CMN Institut, to attend the Rendez-vous en France trade fair and understand the means used by France to enhance and promote its heritage.

At the end of the exploratory phase, a report produced by Cécile Rives and an independent ACMH who was also involved in the project will be submitted to HOCRED. This will present a diagnosis of the historic centre of the town of Rhodes and propose an action plan to optimise its enhancement and promotion, as well as advice on the resources to be deployed.

Discussions are currently underway with a view to proposing a long-term partnership and the continued sharing of cultural engineering tools between France and Greece.