Image from the presentation, April 20, 2016, headquarters of CSAV – Center for Studies in Vernacular Architecture of the UAUIM, Dealu Frumos, Sibiu county, photograph conf. dr. arh. Mihaela Harmănescu
In April 2016 (20-24), I participated in the organization of the international workshop “Confronting Wicked Problems – Adapting Architectural Education to the New Situation in Europe” at Dealu Frumos, a Transylvanian Saxon settlement in Sibiu county, as part of the omonymous Erasmus+ project carried out by a consortium of 8 European universities and the organizations EAAE (European Association for Architectural Education) and ACE (Architect’s Council of Europe), lasting for a period of 3 years (2015-2017).
Activities included drafting the workshop’s annual theme – “Depopulation as a Thorny Problem / Depopulation as a Wicked Problem,” delivering a presentation with the same title, and contributing to the drafting of the synthesis report for the UAUIM activity under the coordination of Prof. dr. arh. Ana Maria Dabija / prof. dr. arh. Zeno Bogdănescu, together with a colleague conf. dr. arh. Mihaela Hărmănescu.
I also participated in guiding teams of architecture students (Romanian – UAUIM, Dutch – TU-DELFT, and Italian – Politecnico di Milano). A survey conducted by me among participants (including mentors) revealed divergent positions regarding the impact of depopulation of settlements, as positive, negative, or neutral – these, along with other results and information from the workshop, were integrated into the introductory chapter of the thesis regarding sustainability.
