Participatory Landscape Design and Water Management—A Sustainable Strategy for Renovation of Vernacular Baths and Landscape Protection in Szeklerland, Romania

Szeklerland is a historical-ethnic region located on the eastern border of the Carpathian Basin, in the central region of Romania. In Szeklerland, thanks to its varied topography and a network of small settlements, landscape management is still carried out using traditional methods. Szeklerland is a macro-region rich in natural resources. Among its natural treasures, the mineral water springs with healing properties are of particular importance: around 40 percent of Romania’s mineral water resources are found here. This richness in hydrogeological features is due to the fact that the post-volcanic activities in the young tertiary mountain ranges in the region still produce large quantities of carbon dioxide, which dissolves beneficial minerals from the earth. When dissolved in water, these minerals produce mineral waters that can be used to cure various types of diseases. For centuries, the medicinal properties of the mineral waters of Szeklerland have been regularly used by the local population. In addition to their consumption, small and larger vernacular baths were built in the settlements with medicinal springs, and their regular use led to the development of a traditional, local cold-water bathing culture in the region. However, the vernacular baths were destroyed in the world wars, and their traditional use was abolished by the apparatus of the 20th century communist regime, which had no respect to natural and cultural heritage. After the political change in 1989, the attention of the society turned back to tradition and values. Alongside (or as part of) nature and landscape conservation initiatives, the reinterpretation and restoration of the intangible and practical values of vernacular baths in Szeklerland also began. Over the past decades, the renovation of vernacular baths, which started as a professional–civic initiative, has grown into an independent heritage conservation programme: dozens of vernacular baths have been renovated in Szeklerland over the past twenty years with public participation initiated and led by professionals. In the course of the renovations, baths used by local communities have been rebuilt using nature- and environment-friendly techniques, materials and in a way that they are also related to the physical environment and the mythology of the region. The project has won prestigious awards both in Romania and internationally, and has become a successful and exemplary movement in landscape heritage conservation.

Current Trends in Urban Heritage Conservation: Medieval Historic Arab City Centers

Traditional conservation efforts did not improve the conditions in most historic urban centers of Arab cities. The internationally adopted shift in historic urban conservation grants better urban vitality and sustainability for these areas. This study investigates the existing trends and forthcoming changes in urban conservation and their implication on historical centers. Urban Heritage Conservation UHC trends were reviewed, conservation parameters were defined, and quality aspects of successful historic urban conservation were identified, and an assessment framework was developed to evaluate the resulting conserved urban heritage. Two case studies of Arab cities, Jeddah and Aman, were analyzed. The findings highlight the most common urban issues such as reusing historic buildings, traffic congestion, and lack of funds. The impact of urban management on historic areas’ quality was revealed. Moreover, the paper ends with recommendations for conservation authorities. These include engaging residents in the conservation efforts, adopting more innovative traffic solutions to ease congestions, turning the historic area into a pedestrian-friendly space, attracting visitors through arranging cultural events, creating new job opportunities through heritage, and improving the image of the areas through urban regulations. The paper’s findings would contribute to the knowledge related to Urban Heritage Conservation (UHC), and its recommendations would help practitioners and decision-makers.

RESIDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS GEOHERITAGE CONSERVATION AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: EVIDENCE FROM JODHPUR, INDIA

The Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, India, located at the height of 150 meters above the surrounding sandy plains, is one of the city's most prominent monuments built over the Jodhpur group-Malani-Igneous Suite. The old city, which boasts numerous blue-painted houses, lies adjacent to the Mehrangarh Fort. The residents of the old city play a significant role in keeping the geoheritage and cultural heritage intact. The study investigates the moderating role of residents’ Perception towards support for Geoheritage Tourism and Conservation in and around Mehrangarh Fort. A combination of Weber’s theory of substantive and formal rationality (WTSFR) and Social Exchange Theory (SET) is used to investigate and infer the interposing and moderating role of residents’ perception on the relationship between influencing factors and support for geo-heritage conservation. A PLS evaluation of the SEM reveals a substantial capacity of the residents’ perception to predict support for conservation and tourism development.

Ontology-Driven Cultural Heritage Conservation: A Case of The Analects of Confucius

Confucianism, recognized as the belief system of Chinese, is one of the most important intangible cultural heritages of China. The main ideas of its founder, Confucius, are written in The Analects of Confucius. However, its scattered chapters and the obscurity of ancient Chinese have prevented many people from understanding it. In order to overcome this difficulty, it needs some modern ways to reveal the vague connotation of Confucianism. This paper aims to describe how to construct the Lunyu ontology in which all concepts are abstract within the core scope, i.e., morality of Confucianism. The key task of this project lies in identifying essential characteristics, a notion that is compliant with the ISO principles on Terminology (ISO 1087 and 704), according to which a concept is defined as a combination of essential characteristics. This paper proposed an approach in the practice of identifying essential characteristics of abstract concepts from different meanings of its Chinese terms in The Analects of Confucius. With this work, Lunyu ontology established a semantic, formal, and explicit representation system for concepts of Confucianism, and the new proposed approach provides a useful reference for other researchers.

Review of the textbook ‘Introduction to Museum Studies and Monument Studies’

Introduction to Museum and Monument Studies book edited by Professor Olena Honcharova, DSc in Cultural Studies, and Associate Professor Serhii Pustovalov, DSc in History, is devoted to topical issues of museum and monument protection, museum studies history and theory, museum staff archaeology training, legislative support for the museum industry, examination of historical and cultural values; presents the views of leading Ukrainian and world scientists and experts on solving current problems in this area. The book is addressed to students, graduate students of field-oriented higher education institutions, museum and heritage conservation staff. For the first time, the textbook comprehensively provides the basics of both programme subject area components: museum studies and monument studies.

Sustainability in Heritage Wood Conservation: Challenges and Directions for Future Research

Conserving the world’s cultural and natural heritage is considered a key contributor to achieving the targets set out in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, yet how much attention do we pay to the methods we use to conserve and protect this heritage? With a specific focus on wooden objects of cultural heritage, this review discusses the current state-of-the-art in heritage conservation in terms of sustainability, sustainable alternatives to currently used consolidants, and new research directions that could lead to more sustainable consolidants in the future. Within each stage a thorough discussion of the synthesis mechanisms and/or extraction protocols, particularly for bio-based resources is provided, evaluating resource usage and environmental impact. This is intended to give the reader a better understanding of the overall sustainability of each different approach and better evaluate consolidant choices for a more sustainable approach. The challenges facing the development of sustainable consolidants and recent research that is likely to lead to highly sustainable new consolidant strategies in the future are also discussed. This review aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion of sustainable conservation and highlight the role that consolidants play in truly sustainable heritage conservation.

Urban Policy And Heritage Planning: The Disproportionate Designation Of Heritage Conservation Districts (HCDs) In The City Of Toronto

<div>This Major Research Paper (MRP) examines the disproportionate designation of Heritage Conservation Districts (HCDs) within the City of Toronto, which are predominantly located in the City's downtown core, compared to the City's inner suburban areas. To illustrate the discrepancies in HCD designation, two potential HCDs in Scarborough, one of three inner suburbs in Toronto, are chronologically examined. Both Agincourt and Midland Park’s HCD represent the most recent examples of heritage designation in the inner suburb, which stands as the only area in the City that has zero HCDs. Before the case studies are discussed, the effects of Toronto's 1998 amalgamation, select timeframes of the City's planning history and recent changes to Provincial planning legislation that govern municipalities' heritage approach are examined. It is determined that a series of factors contribute to the disproportionate designation of HCDs in the City of Toronto. These factors include the incremental designation of heritage properties post amalgamation, the lengthy heritage designation process, the intergovernmental nature of municipal heritage policies, the lack of public education on the benefits of heritage and a complex HCD prioritization process all contribute to the disproportionate designation of HCD’s in the City of Toronto. Four key recommendations are offered to help resolve the heritage designation issue in the City of Toronto.</div><div><br></div><div>Keywords: Heritage Conservation Districts; Toronto; Urban Planning, Urban Policy, Heritage Urbanism.</div>