AKADEMIA NIEŚWIESKA

The 'Nieśwież Academy' International Postgraduate Summer School was founded in 1995 upon the basis of an agreement about training specialists in the protection of historical parks and gardens as well as the cultural landscape, signed by the Institute of Culture of Belarus in Minsk and the Centre for the Protection of the Historical Landscape in Warsaw. Patronage over the undertaking was entrusted to the ministers of culture of Poland and Belarus. Since 2003, when the agreement was prolonged, the partners include the State Belarusian Institute of Culture in Minsk and the National Heritage Board of Poland (formerly known as the National Centre for the Study and Documentation of Historical Monuments in Warsaw). The 'Nieśwież Academy' International Postgraduate Summer School trains graduates of schools of higher learning from Central-Eastern European countries professionally involved in the protection and conservation of historical monuments. The courses are conducted in two-year cycles, starting in the summer in Belarus and ending in the following year in Poland. So far 13 such courses have been held. The first part of the thirteenth course took place in July 2007 in Minsk (Belarus). Its main theme was 'The use of historical buildings and complexes for the purposes of tourism' and the theoretical courses were supplemented by field trips. The second part was organized in Poland in September 2007. The course included a field trip associated with the protection and shaping of the cultural landscape. The closing ceremony was held at the Myślewicki Palace in the Royal Łazienki in Warsaw, with the students of the 'Nieśwież Academy' receiving their graduation diplomas.