V4 Heritage Academy Summer University Sets Off

The Royal Riding Hall of Buda Castle

The reconstruction of historic buildings will be the main theme of the V4 Heritage Academy summer university in Budapest, which will run from Monday to Saturday. Hungary will host the event for the third time, coordinated by the Ministry of Construction and Transport.

Zoran Vukoszávlyev, Deputy State Secretary for Monument Protection at the Ministry of Construction and Transport (MOCT), told MTI at the opening event of the V4 Academy in Budapest that the joint program of the Visegrád countries has been bringing together representatives of state bodies, cultural institutions, universities, and national chapters of international organizations for about a decade and a half, with regular professional events and conferences, to summarize and discuss the most topical issues of heritage conservation through theoretical lectures and field studies.

This is the third time that Hungary has organized the conference series: in 2012, Hollókő, and in 2016, Pannonhalma hosted the guests from the Visegrád countries as World Heritage Sites,” recalled Zorán Vukoszávlyev.

Hungary would like to discuss the reconstruction of historic buildings with the international community at this year’s series of events, with Budapest as the focal point, the Deputy State Secretary stressed, adding that the Summer University will focus on works that have significantly shaped the image of the capital, such as the reconstruction of the Buda Castle Palace.

The reconstruction of historical buildings, which are strongly linked to national identity, is a social issue that is of great interest not only in Hungary but also abroad,”

added Vukoszávlyev.

According to a written summary from the Ministry of Construction and Transport, the

Expert Working Group on Cultural Heritage was established in 2007, in cooperation with the Visegrád countries to promote the preservation of cultural heritage in Central Europe.

Under the partnership, the V4 Heritage Academy Summer University, held every year since 2009, at the initiative of the International Cultural Center in Krakow, will again be held in Hungary this year for the third time. The event will take place from Monday to Saturday in Budapest and will be coordinated by the Deputy State Secretariat for the Protection of Historic Monuments of the Ministry of Construction and Transport.

The training aims to enable professionals involved in the management and conservation of World Heritage sites to exchange experiences and good practices.

The summer university will bring together five young professionals from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary, who will have the opportunity to hear internationally renowned speakers and learn about some of the World Heritage sites in Hungary.

During the week-long summer university, in addition to the World Heritage sites in Budapest: the banks of the Danube, Buda Castle District and Andrássy Avenue, participants will visit the Hollókő Old Village and its surroundings as well as part of the World Heritage sites in Esztergom and Visegrád, the medieval Hungarian royal centers and the area of the former Royal Forest of Pilis in Visegrád.

The students will incorporate the experiences of the trips into a case study under the mentorship of renowned experts as part of a workshop.

In May 2023, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the World Heritage Center launched the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) 2023 – Working for the Future call for proposals. The series of events was also organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Construction and Transport in Budapest, in cooperation with several universities and organizations from Hungary and abroad. 26 students from 16 countries participated in the programs.

Featured image: Facebook/Nemzeti Hauszmann Program