Financing Cultural/Natural Heritage and Sustainable Development

In the aftermath of the 1991-95 war in the former Yugoslavia, the Save Dalmatia Foundation organized a conference sponsored by World Monuments Fund, the Kress Foundation and the World Bank to gather concerned citizens, preservationists, environmentalists, and representatives from international development and lending institutions to develop strategies for sustainable development of the cultural and natural heritage of Croatia. Conference participants focused in particular on ways to stimulate structured growth of an environmentally sensitive cultural tourism sector revolving around the island monasteries of the Dalmatian coast, easing the transition from a command to a market economy. Recommendations included the formation of an island development trust, which would be fostered by the participation of foreign foundations to oversee a development scenario designed to avoid the unchecked exploitation of non-renewable resources. The report also includes profiles of island monastery sites visited during the course of the conference.