TheAiudConservation andTrans-National TrainingProject Report by Dave Baxter on behalf of the West Midlands Branch Background During 1996 members of the Transylvania Monument Restorers Society (The Transylvania Trust) visited the Marches area of England to study buildings conservation projects. There is a close correlation between the Marches and Transylvania in that both encompass remote areas based on a rural economy, both have a rich heritage of historic buildings and are seeking to ensure their conse1vationutilisinglow-cost restoration techniques. The experience and expertise for such work already exists in the Marches area, primarily through local authority conservation practice. The Transylvania Trust recognised that the dissemination of such information and expertise to Romanian building practitioners would give impetus and direction to the development of historic building conservation in Romania. Subsequently the Romanian Government and the Transylvania Trust invited the West Midlands Branch of the IHBCto assisttl1emin reintroducingtraditionalbuildingcraftskills in Romania, initially by establishing a conse1vation workshop as a training base which will be used to disseminate information and skillsthroughout the country. Context Romania is a fledgling democracy which, having thrown offtl1eshackles ofcommunism in 1989, is now looking to Western Europe for guidance to ensure its democratic stability. Under the Ceausescu regime, the country embarked on a process of systemisation which was to result in the destruction ofits rural and historicheritage and the removal of vast numbers of the ruralpopulation to new urban settlements under state control. An aim of this process was to sever the links between the population and its past and thereby guide it towards the new future of the communist ideal. Many historic settlements were therefore deliberatelydestroyed and many were devastated through neglect tlvough the re-settlement policies of the Ceausescu regime.Restorationwork on historicbuildings was actively discouraged. The aim of this project is to redress the balance following tl1oseyears of destruc20 tion and devastation by helping to reestablish a system for the re-introduction of traditionalbuilding, craftskillsand techniques. The request for assistance has come from the Transylvania Trust based in Romania and has the fuIIbacking of the Romanian Government through the Secreta1y of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Culture. It is also supported by the British Embassy in Bucharest, the BritishCouncil in Bucharest, ICOMOSRomaniaand theEuropeanUnion in Romania. In B1itain,the project has the backing not only of the IHBCbut also key localauthorityorganisations,ICOMOSUK and Europe, the B1itishCouncilinLondon, the Oxford Brookes University and English Heritage. Aims The project will embrace an exchange of expertise between conservation professionals in the UK, working for established local and central government authorities, with members of heritage related trusts and government departments in Romania charged with the care of the built environment. It has three principal objectives: (i) to train young people in building conservation craft skills; (ii) to retrain older craftsmen whose own skills can be rejuvenated and disseminated; and (iii) to provide a basis for the dissemination of information and crafts skills throughout Romania so that historical building repairs can be undertaken nation-wide by the Romanians themselves. The emphasise is ve1y much on Training the Trainers. The long-te1m aim is to develop a crafts industry base, especially in rural areas, thereby providing training, tackling the problems of rural depravation and alleviating pove1ty, and stimulating the conservation of Romania's rich historic cultural heritage. This willalso ensure the sustainability of monument and historic building preservation in Romania in the future and will provide a basis for a wider conservation strategy within tl1ecountry. The Project will have a strong emphasis on the exchange of conse1vation expertise between the two countries. It is not seen as an opportunity to simply impose British conservation practice on a foreign country. The control will be through a teaching of conservation philosophy with an emphasise on repair rather than replacement, and the exchange of expertise will be a two way process. To underline that principle, three members of the Transylvania Trust visited the West Midlands between 26th April and 16th May 1999 to study specificconservation projects and to undertake a short intensive course at Oxford Brookes University, but they also advised the British members of the team on the cultural and historical background of Romania and of some of the traditional building techniques and methods employed there. This will ensure that members of the British team will have a clear understanding of the cultural background in which they will be working. Thepartnership The project will be realised by means of a Partnership established between a team of UKconservation professionals, members of The Transylvania Trust, and Oxford Brookes University (UK). The UK team of conservation professionals will embrace the skills of local authority Conse1vation Officers, English Heritage officers,building control officers, architects and a building conservation swveyor. The Transylvania Trust is the charitable arm of an extremely highly respected engineering and architecturalpractice in Romania called Utilitas.Itsdirector, Dr. Balint Szabo, is one of the most eminent conservation professionals in Romania ,and the practice was recentlyawarded the Europa Nostra Award for its work at CalvaryChurchinCluj, Translyvania. Oxford Brookes' reputation at the forefront of conservation education in this countly ishighly respected. The involvement of Oxford Brookes is vital to tl1e success of the project not only for tl1e duration of the workshop, but also to ensure the sustainability of the project beyond the workshop. This element of the project will be guided by Phil Grover who is not only a Principal Lecturer at Context62June1999
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