The project I Principi del Restauro per la Nuova Europa has been selected by the European Commissionís General Direction X which has approved funding as part of the Raphael Program 1999.
The project was presented by the International Centre Cities on Water of Venice, responsible for overall organisation, while the other partners are: the University of Valladolid - Spanish Institute for Architecture (Spain), the University of Ghent - Faculty of Technology (Belgium), the Venice City Council, the Venice University Institute for Architecture - Chair of Architectonic Restoration, in charge of the general expert co-ordination, the University of Crakow - Faculty of Architecture (Poland) and the University of Budapest - Faculty of Architecture (Hungary).
The project for co-operation is the result of the common wish to make known and extend studies carried out during the preparatory meetings and the International Conference on Conservation Kraków 2000, promoted by the committee set up in Crakow in 1996 and to be held there on 23/26 October 2000, as illustrated on the attached page. Scientific research into the themes of architectonic restoration over recent years has highlighted the need to develop new principles for the European cultural context that are not limited to a view of buildings and architectonic sites in terms of their aesthetic and historic relevance, but also to consider them subjects from the past to be preserved for what they are and as spaces and functions to be re-introduced into day-to-day life and integrated with present-day culture in a manner that is compatible with their safeguarding and durability over time. In this sense the aim of the Crakow conference is to contribute to the development and renew the bases of the discipline of restoration, as expressed in the 1931 Athens Charter and the 1964 Venice charter.
The I Principi del Restauro per la nuova Europa project extends participation to universities, public administrations, and other movers in the field of restoration. There will be co-operation through workshops, seminars, scientific research and publications, a web site will be set up and a newsletter published, to inform the public about this new angle on the restoration of heritage sites for what they are and what they represent for man.