1st Edition

Professionalism in the Built Heritage Sector Edited Contributions to the International Conference on Professionalism in the Built Heritage Sector, February 5-8, 2018, Arenberg Castle, Leuven, Belgium

Edited By Koen van Balen, Aziliz Vandesande Copyright 2019

    Professionalism entails the conduct, aims and qualities that characterise a profession. The term is also used to describe education and training standards for the knowledge and skills necessary to perform a specific profession. In practice, professional standards of practice and ethics are agreed upon and maintained by recognised associations.

    In the past, professionalism has not occupied a central place in built heritage discussions, policy and research. Recent changes in terms of public attitudes and sustainability concerns have had a cumulative impact on the requirements for professionalism in the built heritage sector. The future success of the sector will depend on the availability of adequate professionals and an appropriately skilled workforce.

    In practice, the built heritage sector involves much more than interventions to conserve, preserve, rehabilitate or restore a heritage structure. Bringing a project to fruition begins with the formulation of a policy, proceeds to the design and execution of intervention strategies and ends with ongoing maintenance of heritage structures and related future programming. This process requires sufficient interactions between different professionals to obtain a common vision and hold that vision throughout a project. At the same time, the sustainability of the sector is also defined by effective governance, societal support and cultural rationales.

    Professionalism in the Built Heritage Sector contains reports on the lectures of the international conference organized by the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (Leuven, Belgium, February 5th-8th, 2018). The contributions in this volume meet the increasing demand for shared information to support the transition towards a more sustainable conservation process. The volume consists of three main parts that deal with practice-led research or scientific research: "Profiles and capacities", "Education, training and quality labels", and "Obstacles and changes".

    Introduction

    On established built heritage profiles and capacities, the rise of new profession(al)s and the need for training and education to deal with ongoing disruptive changes in the sector
    A. Vandesande & K. Van Balen

    Profiles and capacities

    Profession(s) and professional(s) in the conservation process
    S. Della Torre & R. Moioli

    Structural conservation engineering in practice: Lessons learned
    A. Drougkas & E. Verstrynge

    Building archaeology in Leiden (NL): A practical approach
    P.J. De Vos

    The role of the professional authority in the monument preservation—changes in the institutional monument preservation system in Hungary between 2011 and 2017
    A. Veoreos & T. Fejerdy

    Overview of project governance framework for built heritage conservation in India
    D. Roy, S.N. Kalidindi & A. Menon

    The increasing relevance of soft skills in the conservation profession
    R. Moioli

    Education, training and quality labels

    Fostering cooperation in the European Union on skills, training and knowledge transfer in cultural heritage professions
    A. Galan-Perez, I.M. Grumazescu, K. Gunthorpe, A. Limburg, N. Roche, E. Sciacchitano, J. van Leeuwen & G. Almevik

    Mastering building conservation
    G. Almevik

    The built heritage sector in Portugal: Education in conservation and professionalisation
    S.M. Genin & P. Brum

    Guidelines for quality of interventions in built cultural heritage in The Netherlands
    S. Naldini & M. van Hunen

    Education and training as a means to boost skills and to increase territorial reputation: The example of the Valtellina Cultural District in Italy
    D. Foppoli, A. Konsta & S. Della Torre

    Real estate competencies in the built cultural heritage field
    C. Boniotti, S. Della Torre & A. Ciaramella

    Knowledge and skills associated to craftsmanship for built heritage conservation and rehabilitation: Case study—Historic Cairo
    I. Waked, K. Van Balen & D. Pini

    Obstacles and changes

    Adopting an integrated and holistic perspective for improving conservation of built heritage
    G.E. Garcia & F. Cardoso

    Mapping professional practice challenges in built heritage
    J. Goncalves, R. Mateus & J.D. Silvestre

    Operative tools for new approaches towards urban conservation
    S. Cardone

    Obstacles and possible solutions for architectural heritage along the coastline of the Baltic Sea in Latvia
    D. Ržepicka & A. Ziemeļniece

    Preservation of sacral heritage by learning from the past: Church building reconstructions in Hungary in the 1960s and 1970s
    E. Urban

    Biography

    Prof. Koen van Balen and Dr. Aziliz Vandesande work at the Department of Civil Engineering and Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation at the KU Leuven, Belgium.