On the 28th of May, the National Institute of Heritage in Romania (lead partner Innocastle) organised a stakeholder meeting in Bucharest to discuss how to improve the situation on Romanian heritage castles, manors and estates.
The meeting brought together delegates from:
- national and regional authorities such as the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Tourism, the National Forestry Board (Romsilva)
- professional organisations such as the Order of Architects in Romania
- NGOs such as ARCHÉ Association, which has been documenting neglected (and unlisted) castles, manors and estates for more than 7 years, and Pro Patrimonio - The National Trust of Romania - who own such properties and are working on restoring and revitalizing them.
- the FINCH project, another Interreg Europe financed project which aims to improve the heritage policy frameworks to enable the involvement of private actors and the creation of Public-Private Partnerships
Innocastle seeks to demonstrate the importance of partnership across sectors in the sustainable revitalisation and future-proofing of heritage sites.
In Romania, Innocastle aims to look at and propose improvement points for the Regional Operational Program (ROP) 2014-2020, investment priority 5.1 “preservation, protection, promotion and development of the cultural heritage and identity”, one of the most important funding mechanisms for heritage in Romania. Based on the first Innocastle study visit in Romania, several issues were identified which could be improved in the design and implementation of the ROP 5.1:
- Quality in restoration - ensuring that the ERDF funding for restoration helps the monuments on the long term instead of damage
- Business plans - changing the focus from sole restoration to long term management and activation of heritage sites
- Valorification and interpretation plans - increasing the budget for promotion and marketing, ensuring long term sustainability and a more pragmatic approach at how to simulate regional development
A detailed report of the meeting can be found here.
All the presentations can be found here.
