Odesa rescue plan: restoration school, grants and cultural hubs

Odesa has planned to preserve the historic center, restore monuments, and digitalize its heritage. The implementation of these measures will help restore the city's authenticity and turn its cultural heritage into an economic and tourist resource.

This is evidenced by the Green Book of the Odesa Development Strategy, published by Intent.Insight during its era.

The threat of losing UNESCO status

As noted in the strategy, the historic center of Odesa, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in January 2023, is under serious threat. Along with the inclusion in the list of sites under direct military threat, the city has lost some of its monuments: as of early 2025, 106 monuments of national and local significance were damaged by Russian shelling.

Hundreds more are in a state of degradation due to the lack of systematic restoration and outdated documentation. The 2007 Historical and Architectural Reference Plan contains errors and does not meet current UNESCO requirements.

The experts also noted that there is currently no municipal management body for the property, no approved buffer zone, no integrated management plan, and no defined desirable state of conservation of the property (DSOCR), which is necessary to remove Odesa from the list of sites under threat. In addition, chaotic signage, kiosks, air conditioners, and illegal additions are destroying the authenticity of the ensemble, which creates a real risk of losing the status as early as 2027-2029.

Creation of a specialized management body

According to the strategy, Odesa became the first site in Ukraine to be listed during active hostilities, making it a symbol of cultural resilience. The city has already conducted an inventory of 1,354 sites, updated some documents, created the first digital passports of monuments, and has active civil society, universities, and international partners (ICOMOS, World Monuments Fund, GIZ, ALIPH Foundation, Getty Foundation) ready to provide support, provided a professional municipal management body is created.

To protect the cultural heritage, it was proposed to create a specialized executive body - the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The structure envisages a Supervisory Board, which will include representatives of the community, owners, universities, NGOs, ICOMOS-Ukraine, and the ICIP, as well as an Executive Office with 18-22 full-time specialists. It is planned to allocate a separate budget program in the amount of 0.7-1% of the city budget and create a trust fund for international grants, provide a direct channel of communication with the UNESCO Secretariat and ICOMOS, and report on the status of the site on a quarterly basis.

Key activities and digitalization of heritage

Priority measures include the completion and approval of the mandatory UNESCO documentation: updated IAOP, scientific and design documentation of the boundaries and buffer zone, an integrated management plan with a risk management section, and a DSOCR with clear corrective measures. It is also planned to introduce a municipal design code for the historic center, create a digital platform "Odesa Heritage" with 3D passports of all objects, VR/AR tools and an open database.

The Restoration 100 program provides for 70% annual co-financing from the city and international grants and 30% contribution from owners for 100 monuments. It is planned to open a municipal restoration school-workshop with employment for veterans and internally displaced persons.

The UNESCO status is planned to be turned into an economic asset through the UNESCO Heritage Residences program, which will include cultural and educational hubs, creative clusters, and boutique hotels, with 15-20% of the income from which will be used for restoration. An annual international forum Odesa UNESCO Heritage Summit is also planned to be held to attract donors and expert support.

Experts emphasized that the implementation of these measures will help preserve the unique cultural heritage of Odesa, restore its authenticity and turn it into an economic and tourist resource after the war.

Odesa region has also attracted more than EUR 78 million to restore monuments, reconstruct irrigation systems and build a children's hospital. In 2025, the region concluded several international agreements and implemented a number of projects in the fields of culture, agriculture, and healthcare infrastructure.

Анна Бальчінос