Territorio Mudéjar, a breeding ground for new professionals in the management of historical-artistic heritage

At Territorio Mudéjar we make the most of our resources to generate professional fields of excellence, in which each area we develop is specialised and works to find solutions of innovative use for the “heritage space” as a space for professional development and learning.

These days we are finalising the different actions that are part of the practical study for the definition of a specialised professional profile for cultural heritage located in rural territories and that in our case coincides with the work that we actively carry out with the localities that hold the UNESCO World Heritage declaration.

This project, funded by the Ministry of Culture and Sport through its 2019 call of grants for projects for the conservation, protection and dissemination of World Heritage Sites, as well as by the Council of Zaragoza through its direct aid to Territorio Mudéjar, aims to make our entity a benchmark in terms of the quality applied to the development of projects linked to management and accessibility strategies, understanding that the quality and achievement of objectives of our projects must begin by strengthening the skills and abilities of the people who work on them on a daily basis.

In this line, we have developed different actions throughout the year 2020 through which we are working on the creation of synergies with entities of recognised prestige in our territory such as the Tarazona Monumental Foundation, the Santa Mª de Albarracín Foundation, the Association of Municipalities of the Camino de Santiago or the Sobrarbe-Pyrenees Geopark, among others.

In addition, we are in continuous contact with national and international entities that work to ensure that professionalization is the key to the future of our heritage as an economic agent and from different points of view, such as Icomos España or Aproha.

The richest and most stimulating actions are found in the incorporation of students, recent graduates and emerging professionals in the different projects that we carry out through the University of Zaragoza, for the Challenge Programme, for entities such as Cepyme that train for professionalization, or through the introduction of students in training period for the development of their Master’s or Bachelor’s Degree Final Project.

For this reason, students of Art History, History and other humanistic fields are training in Territorio Mudéjar to be able to build a learning process that takes into account the contexts: Mudejar art, Aragonese art and the general context, because no art is free of influences.

As an example of some of the initiatives we are working on:

-We have been in San Mateo de Gállego making a technical visit so that Sarai Salvo -student of the #ChallengeProgramme2020- gets to know the town and can start working on her Master’s Degree Final Project on the parish museum of San Mateo de Gállego, using the knowledge learned in the creation of focal points of heritage and cultural action for the town.During the visit we also visited the Mudejar pottery workshop Siglo XXI of Fernando Malo, a ceramics workshop specialising in the reproduction of Mudejar tiles for restorations, which will form an active part of our student’s project.

-We have also done technical visits to Magallón (town council) and Tarazona (Tarazona Monumental Foundation) with Derry Holgado and Alfredo Notivol, as part of the internships they are doing through the programme for recent graduates in the first case and through CEPYME in the second.

-With Derry Holgado we visited the Tarazona Monumental Foundation, the Santa María de Albarracín Foundation, the UNESCO Sobrarbe-Pyrenees World Geopark and the church of San Pablo in Zaragoza, one of the buildings declared UNESCO Mudejar World Heritage.

-Eugenia Gallego, another of our students, is working on her Final Master’s Degree Project on the management plan for towers in Villarreal de Huerva, Mainar and Romanos.

-María Foradada is studying different options within Territorio Mudéjar that allow her to develop her Bachelor’s Degree Final Project and finish her degree studies with a clear focus on Mudejar heritage and its practical application in rural areas.

With this project we contribute to training professionals with specific skills through the real application of the contents of the training programmes, who know how to detect what is essential in order for a project to be carried out and have a chance of success.

Likewise, with this work we are making progress in the project to define a professional profile for the management of historical-artistic heritage located in rural areas, financed by the Ministry of Culture and Sport and by the Council of Zaragoza through its direct aid to our organisation.

Territorio Mudéjar, an example of good practices at the seminar on cultural heritage as a sustainable resource in ‘empty Spain’

Territorio Mudéjar participates in the leading forums on heritage and innovation, including the online seminar entitled “El patrimonio cultural como recurso sostenible en la España vaciada” (Cultural heritage as a sustainable resource in empty Spain), sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports. We not only attended, in this case, but also stood out as a role model of good practices.

At this meeting, coordinated by the Cultural Heritage Institute of Spain (IPCE) and held on October 5 and 6, the lecturers included full professors of the art history department at University of Zaragoza Ascensión Hernández Martínez and María Pilar Biel Ibáñez, who gave a conference entitled “La cultura y el patrimonio como recurso: la lucha de Aragón contra la despoblación” (Culture and heritage as a resource: Aragon’s fight against depopulation).

In line with the theme of the seminar, they discussed how this demographic challenge requires coming up with strategies to encourage people to stay in places with difficulties and studying measures that generate social benefits for the residents, attract visitors and possible new residents, and turn heritage into a driver of the economy, tourism and employment and, above all, to uphold a cultural identity.

In this regard, they explained how we, at Territorio Mudéjar, strive to consolidate a unified, collaborative management network for the use of historical and artistic resources linked to important Mudejar heritage in our towns. And also how we see these resources as a driving force in the development of the towns and as emblems of identity for upholding the communities existing in our region.

They further highlighted that our entity ensures that the projects directly affect the region through responsible and sustainable management of Mudejar cultural heritage.

Experts from the IPCE, the University of Seville’s Industrial Heritage Laboratory, the Santa María la Real and DeClausura Foundations, the Polytechnic University of Madrid School of Architecture, and Asociación Amigos de los Castillos, to name a few, also participated in the seminar. They discussed the issue of desertion of rural areas and the ensuing consequences for heritage, including the loss of traditional architecture and monuments, movable assets, habits and intangible customs.

They also assessed good practices such as reputable cultural routes, famous restoration projects, preserved monuments, foundations whose efforts have had excellent outcomes and models such as that of Territorio Mudéjar.

University of Zaragoza colloquium on the entrepreneurial adventure in rural settings

On October 15, Territorio Mudéjar took part in the discussion entitled: “Tu desafío: Conocer el mundo rural y sus posibilidades” (Your challenge: Discovering the rural world and its possibilities), organized by University of Zaragoza as part of its rural exchange program (Challenge Program) to talk about the entrepreneurial adventure.

Territorio Mudéjar is an active participant in this initiative, and has just started the second phase with its student internships. The director of Territorio Mudéjar, Victoria Trasobares, explained this, stressing that the program offers an opportunity for young people, who learn from it, and for the rural setting in which they develop their ideas.

Victoria Trasobares noted that Territorio Mudéjar makes use of its resources by generating a professional workplace; in other words, each area developed is professionalized. Since the entity works with historical and artistic heritage, there are obviously professionals with skills in this field.

Therefore, art history students are being trained in Territorio Mudéjar to construct learning experiences that take the context into account: Mudejar art, Aragonese art and a general context, because all genres are subject to some kind of influence.

Through this project, Territorio Mudéjar provides support in skills-building for art historians, so that they know how to search for information and how to use it. They also learn to discern the key components in ensuring that a project can be implemented with a likelihood of success.

In addition, this work helps further the project aimed at defining a specialized job profile for cultural heritage designated as UNESCO World Heritage located in rural settings. This Territorio Mudéjar project is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports, and by the Provincial Government of Zaragoza through its direct support for our entity.

Adrián Tambo from Ecotambo, Alicia Sáchez from #DulcesLocuras, Fran Saura Armelles, veterinarian, María Fernández Pérez Muro with the human resources recruiting and development department of Caja Rural de Aragón, Sandra Barceló, psychologist and independent educator specializing in social matters and mindfulness, and Yolanda Gimeno Cuenca, an environmental expert at Riegos del Alto Aragón, also took part in the University of Zaragoza course, sharing their experiences.

Meeting on depopulation: new job profiles for building a rural future

Territorio Mudéjar participated in the meeting on depopulation sponsored by Cadena SER in collaboration with the Provincial Government of Zaragoza on October 15 and 16 in Daroca and Paracuellos de Jiloca, reflecting on rural areas as a place for opportunities.

At the meeting, it was explained that towns need more than infrastructures to survive; specifically, intangible strategies are required, such as networking by public and private entities and a commitment to creativity and talent, ideas that form the foundations of Territorio Mudéjar.

Territorio Mudéjar sees the rural world as a place for opportunities at all levels, in which – as remarked during the meeting – disruptive elements that prompt a turning point are needed.

For Territorio Mudéjar, one key disruptive feature is professionalizing job profiles* linked to heritage, because this makes it possible to boost employment in rural settings, attract professionals and develop projects entailing investments.

For this reason, we are committed to finding new uses for heritage spaces and landscapes, such as technical tours, teaching specific subjects in these spaces, funding for internships, etc.

We further strengthen this course of action by attracting highly qualified professionals who generate diverse entrepreneurship projects that prompt them to settle in Mudejar locations. A clear example of this is our fieldwork grants for project development.

Furthermore, Territorio Mudéjar is seen as a role model of management and good practices in cooperation projects and transnational funding, with round tables, workshops, conferences and more.

In addition, Territorio Mudéjar engages in another of the leading lines of work highlighted at the Cadena SER meeting: education. Through projects such as ‘Territorio Mudéjar Circular desde la escuela’ (Territorio Mudéjar, Circular from schools), we strive to integrate heritage and its methods into curricula in order to raise awareness in school children about the identity of their towns and help them discover the professional options in their region. We do this through a cooperation project with local development groups, in which we are a partner.

*This Territorio Mudéjar project is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports, and by the Provincial Government of Zaragoza through its direct support for our entity.