Each workshop of the two parallel sessions will be dedicated to a specific theme. Attendants will be able to chose between 16 different workshops. The Scientific Committee seeks eight papers for each of the above themes. Papers must be no longer than 10 minutes. Please note that the number of sessions will depend on the total number of proposals.
The Scientific Committee has decided that one workshop will be dedicated to The concept of industrial heritage: scenarios, boundaries and perspectives. If you wish your paper to be included in this workshop, please indicate it in your proposal.
Workshops 1 – 8
1. Know-how: surveying and classification
The Scientific Committee welcomes papers on the use of new methods for inventorying and classification. These can include papers discussing the results obtained by the use of different computer systems, the use of data in town and territorial planning and in heritage conservation and re-use.
2. Protection: juridical and legislative instruments
Notwithstanding recent important developments, the protection of industrial heritage is still far from establishing national or international legal standards that will provide a conceptual and practical framework. The aim of this workshop is to evaluate the legal solutions adopted so far. Discussion is welcome between those who propose the adoption of restrictive regulation (in line with the criteria applied for cultural and artistic-historical heritage), and those who support less rigid solutions.
3. Planning: restoration, re-use and transformation
The quality of architectural planning plays an essential role in the recovery and re-use of industrial archaeological heritage. Such quality depends more on the appropriateness of design rather than on methodological rules. It is therefore necessary for the architect/designer to be aware of the most important results achieved in the sector in order to evaluate which factors will be most influential in the success of his/her work. The Scientific Committee seeks contributions showing ‘good practices’ in planning, in adopting new functions and uses for industrial heritage, and in connecting architectural planning with cultural, economic and entrepreneurial variables.
4. Conservation and management: foundations, archives, museums, eco-museums
The aim of this workshop is to understand how industrial heritage can acquire value through the adoption of specific institutional policies and adequate management choices. Examples and case studies should guide the discussion. Special attention will be dedicated to the governance and marketing of cultural institutions; the use of human resources; financial planning, and the integration of the activities within the wider context of the economic, competitive and individual dynamics of businesses, regions and local productive systems.
5. Communicating the role of industry and its historical identity
This workshop will concentrate on the ways in which industrial heritage can be interpreted and communicated. The Scientific Committee seeks contributions concerning web sites, portals, and teaching experiences on industrial and scientific heritage. Special attention will be dedicated to the relationship between sponsorship and communication.
6. Use: cultural tourism and industrial tourism
Areas that did not complete their path of development or declining economies can use the enhancement of heritage and its potential indirect effects as an opportunity for constructing new models of growth centred on tourism and based on the provision of services. This workshop will concentrate on how industrial heritage is used by tourist offices, authorities and operators, within the wider cultural heritage of a specific area. Particular attention will be given to the ways in which industrial heritage is used as a way of increasing tourism and its possible negative effects. Contributions are welcome on the theme of tourist advertising that promotes industrial heritage within a variety of cultural heritage attractions (environmental, naturalistic, archaeological, historical-artistic, etc.).
7. New planning expertise and training
There is an ever-increasing need in the field of industrial heritage for highly-trained personnel, able to fill professional positions that require multi-disciplinary experience and expertise. In recent years the professional profiles of these operators have been redefined and the need for new project expertise has increased. The Scientific Committee seeks contributions on university and extra-university training programmes and courses, aimed at producing professionals to work in industrial archaeological heritage. Contributions should illustrate objectives, expertise, study methods and contents, work activities and results obtained by trained personnel, including reference to distance training carried out nationally or internationally.
8. Enhancement of heritage and ‘multi-scale’ development strategies
The complexity and number of people involved in the process of identifying and regenerating industrial heritage is increasing. Such projects can include huge international organisations like Unesco, European and national institutions, regional or local organisations. This workshop seeks papers from those who have acquired experience in the territorial aspects of industrial heritage, and dealt with the multiple facets of the integration of local systems at different levels according to processes such as “from local to global and back again”.
Workshops 9 – 16
9. Crafts and trades, expertise and traditional production
We seek contributions dealing with the loss and the disappearance of old crafts, trades and special productive techniques or inputs. Papers should discuss possible ways of preserving ancient techniques and occupations and their relationship with industrial heritage, specifically in de-industrialised areas.
10. Technical archives
This workshop will focus on the conservation and re-classification of archives containing technical drawings of machinery, productive plants and equipment. This is an emerging field in many countries and at the centre of the attention of industrial archaeologists. Its importance lies with the rapid obsolescence of techniques and machineries and the necessity to create an efficient ‘memory’ store.
11. Agriculture and the food industry heritage
Contributions should focus on the ways in which the food-producing and food processing industry has developed, the role that this sector has played in international trade in recent decades, on the consumption of new products, and on food products developed by businesses. Special attention should be given to museums, business archives, and the preservation of productive plants and machinery.
12. The heritage of Textile and clothing industries
This workshop will focus on recent scientific developments in the textile sector, on the links between proto-industry and modern industry, on the relations between demand and productive techniques, with special attention to fashion and the clothing sector.
13. The heritage of steel works and the mechanical industry
Contributions should concentrate on the projects and interventions that followed the closing down of many steel and metal-working plants, on the problems related to conservation and the solutions adopted in different countries and regions.
14. Mining heritage
The Scientific Committee seeks contributions concerning the preservation of mining areas in an international context, and on recent experiences in creating museums, with a special focus on the working conditions and lifestyle of miners.
15. Industrial heritage in the chemical sector
Chemical plants have undergone considerable changes and transformations over the past twenty years. Many plants have now disappeared. Contributions should focus on derelict sites, reclaiming procedures, re-use techniques for buildings and problems concerning equipment conservation.
16. Energy supply lines, communication networks and industrial infrastructures
This workshop will concentrate on energy supply and transport systems, with special attention given to railways and their re-use and new tourist functions. Attention should be paid to large railway museums and the evolution they have undergone in the last ten years. The workshop should also include contributions concerning industrial infrastructures or urban services for industrial purposes.
