Presentation

The University of Porto has been awarded a UNESCO Chair entitled ‘Heritage, Cities and Landscapes. Sustainable Management, Conservation, Planning and Design’, hosted by the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto and coordinated by professor Teresa Cunha Ferreira, in collaboration with professor Rui Fernandes Póvoas.

The new chair, the first within the University of Porto related to the Culture Sector, is the result of a demanding evaluating process by a team of international experts, after an application submitted by FAUP, and will focus its efforts on teaching and advanced training, research, knowledge transfer and international cooperation.

The assignment of this chair constitutes an important recognition of the work developed over several years at FAUP and at Centro de Estudos de Arquitectura e Urbanismo (CEAU) towards the safeguarding and recognition of heritage as a qualified resource and driver for the development of the territory, cities and landscapes.

In this framework, the Chair will focus on the management and conservation of cultural heritage, as well as planning and design processes, with the aim of promoting a qualified contemporary intervention in heritage resources.

"It is not only a matter of safeguarding cultural heritage, but also of an operational approach for its enhancement and for the construction of future heritage", says the coordination team. Thus, the contribution of the discipline of Architecture as an vector of interdisciplinary cooperation and integration between safeguarding and development, through a critical and qualified approach (in teaching, research and practice) to the of contemporary intervention on built heritage.

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Agenda 2030, the Chair aims to develop innovative and sustained practices for the management and enhancement of cultural heritage.

The Chair also aims to support the management and new nomination of  World Heritage sites in Portugal and internationally, particularly in the framework of north-south cooperation, including countries with heritage of Portuguese influence (Africa, Asia, South America). The project aims to be an open and collaborative platform for cooperation networks in the national and international context (NGOs, higher education institutions, public and private organizations, UNESCO/Unitwin Chairs network, among others).

This Chair is in line with FAUP’s strategy of diversifying its training offer and consolidating high profile scientific research, within national and international collaboration networks. At the same time, it continues to promote good practices in built heritage conservation.

The establishment of the UNESCO Chair follows previous initiatives such as interdisciplinary course ‘Heritage and Landscape. Management, Analysis, Design’, coordinated by FAUP in collaboration with other Faculties of U.Porto (FLUP, FCUP, FEUP), as well as the organization of several research and dissemination meetings by CEAU in partnership with the National UNESCO Commission, Porto City Council and other R&D Units (CITCEM, CIBIO, CONSTRUCT, CES), among others.

The initiatives developed within the scope of this Chair intend to make a relevant contribution in connecting with society, reinforcing the role of heritage as a social construction and intrinsically linked to the identification, appreciation and recognition by the communities.

Objectives

The purpose of the UNESCO Chair “Heritage, Cities and Landscapes. Sustainable Management, Conservation, Planning and Design” is to promote an integrated system of research, training, information and documentation on sustainable management, assessment, planning, conservation and design on heritage, cities and landscapes. It will facilitate collaboration between high-level, internationally-recognized researchers and teaching staff of the University and other institutions in Portugal, as well as elsewhere in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and in other regions of the world.

The specific objectives of this Chair are to:

• provide education and training at graduate and postgraduate levels on the sustainable management, assessment, planning, conservation and design on heritage, cities and landscapes as well as related disciplines. Moreover, empower students, heritage managers, municipal technicians and communities through participative, inclusive and innovative training and education models;
• undertake jointly with partners interdisciplinary research on the themes of the UNESCO Chair and disseminate their results broadly;
• foster informed debates, circulate good practices, and disseminate and transfer the results in policy and conservation practices in the World Heritage Sites, as well as through conferences and publications;
• promote the implementation of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscapes;
• support the development of new World Heritage Sites nominations notably in Portugal;
• cooperate closely with UNESCO and UNESCO Chairs on relevant programmes and activities.

Advisory Board

• Rui Fernandes Póvoas (Centre for Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, FAUP)
• Francesco Bandarin (UNESCO Advisor)
• Filipe Themudo Barata (UNESCO Chair in Intangible Heritage, University of Évora)
• Ana Pereira Roders (UNESCO Chair in ‘Heritage and Values’, TU Delft)
• Teresa Andresen (Expert of the World Heritage Committee, UNESCO, 2014-2017)
• Ana Paula Amendoeira (ICOMOS-Portugal, Expert of the World Heritage Committee, UNESCO, 2014-2017)

Contacts

Tel.: +351 226 057 100
E-mail: tferreira@arq.up.pt

Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto
Via Panorâmica S/N | 4150-564 Porto, Portugal