Research
For a Sustainable Site of Lalibela
Research provides its methodology to the project: observe, analyze, report and act. The project is carried out by the French center for Ethiopian studies (Cfee) and by a multidisciplinary team of Franco-Ethiopian researchers. In order to comprehend the site in its complexity, its diversity and its evolutions, the project gathers historians, archaeologists, stone cutters, geographers, etc. The project relies on a long lasting experience of the CNRS and the CFEE, which in partnership with EHA, has led scientific research in Lalibela since 2009.
Qeyit Tarrara Excavation mission 2021
Emergency Interventions
Making of a platform in the Project's workshop
Before starting the Global conservation project, 24 emergency interventions were determined. Those interventions, overseen by Antoine Garric, stone cutter and head of the emergency intervention program for the Sustainable Lalibela project, aims to secure the circulation of the faithful and the visitors in the churches’ complex.
As part of those interventions, local craftsmen and craftswomen will be trained. Through a field-school program, twenty craftsmen and women will learn by doing. This team will gain skills in welding, stone cutting, wood carving, maps reading and drawing. Local knowledge will be promoted, by always prioritizing local techniques and materials. At the end of the training, this specialized team of craftsmen and women will be able to reinvest those skills for the restoration of other sites.
Capactiy Building
The project offers an association of restoration, preservation, valorization and training in heritage jobs for students and professionals in Archaeology, Conservation and Heritage management. In the future, this capacity building in Heritage Management could be adapted to other sites in Ethiopia. The project contributes to the establishment of a specialists’ network for the Ethiopian heritage by offering on-site and school-fields training. It will enable the site’s conservation and valorization using local skills.
Community Inclusion
The Lalibela community’s contribution to the project is essential, through inclusive governance, continuous dialog, knowledge sharing, job opportunities, and an education program. Involving the community enables a local appropriation of the project and will enable a continuity at the end of the project.
