RULES OF THE CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Fieldwork grants and projects 2021

3rd Call for applications Gonzalo M. Borrás Gualis fieldwork grants and projects

Territorio Mudéjar announces the third edition of the Gonzalo M. Borrás Gualis fieldwork grants and projects aimed at directly supporting the work of researchers and project promoters who want to work on the development of villages through the responsible and sustainable use of cultural and natural heritage resources.

Territorio Mudéjar is an association of town councils, currently thirty-six member councils and one collaborating partner, whose objective is to consolidate a unified and collaborative management network for the use of the historical-artistic resources linked to the important Mudejar heritage, understanding them as an engine for the development of the villages and as an element of identity for the maintenance of the communities that make up our territory.

Our programme of actions for the coming years has been designed in accordance with the strategic lines defined by the “Roadmap of the Council of the European Union 2019-2022” (Plan de trabajo del Consejo de la Unión Europea 2019-2022) which, aligned with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, have as their guiding principle that “the cultural identity of the territories will contribute to sustainable social and economic development by differentiating markets and in turn allowing their integration into a diversified economy that can ensure their future success”.

The projects carried out in 2020 have consolidated one of our most important lines of work based on the development of actions that strengthen the retention and attraction of talent, actions aimed at the construction of highly qualified professional networks linked to the use of historical-artistic and cultural resources, contributing to medium and long-term territorial development.

Dedicated to Professor Gonzalo M. Borrás Gualis, a strong advocate of the management of the heritage of Aragon and the territory, as an action of the people and as an innovative field of work full of future. His work exemplified with perfect coherence the possibility of combining research work of high scientific impact with a commitment to the land and its people, not only favouring the knowledge, conservation and dissemination of its historical and artistic heritage, but also modernising work processes and proposing innovative projects in which natural, cultural and heritage resources are a key element in the future of the villages.

Rules

1/ Purpose and scope

The purpose of this call for proposals is to award FIVE GRANTS and ONE ACCESIT to researchers and professionals in the management of cultural and natural heritage for the development of a research or territorial project with a highly innovative character within one of the fields of activity or area of work specified below.

Proposals may address zero or preparatory phases, development phases or piloting and testing phases of ongoing projects.

Proposals must include as a fundamental part of their development a justified physical stay in one or more of the localities of Territorio Mudéjar. The projects presented must demonstrate direct impact on at least three partner localities of Territorio Mudéjar and provide evidence of influence of this impact on the rest of the territory.

Objectives:
  • To favour the knowledge of the rural territory based on its Mudejar identity through innovative approaches whose main aim is to have a positive impact on the villages.
  • To encourage projects with a high territorial impact developed from the experience of the habitability of the villages.
  • To help in the creation and implementation of a working network with a common vision of the possibilities of heritage, cultural and natural resources that helps to strengthen the rest of the sectors through interdisciplinary and collaborative work.
  • To create mechanisms for social participation in the field of heritage resource management from a territorial perspective.
  Specific objectives:
  • To promote knowledge of heritage resources in order to favour the implementation of projects, contribute to better protection and favour the conservation of the Mudejar heritage of the villages.
  • To contribute to a better knowledge of UNESCO World Heritage and the benefits it brings to the territory as an international brand.
  • To give special support to projects that refer to the previous sections and that include two or more towns of Territorio Mudéjar.
  • Support projects that serve as a framework for action for a wide range of sites or assets, or that propose solutions and formulas that contribute to improving the sustainability and management capacities of Mudejar Heritage in general.
  • Support projects that help to promote the social function of cultural heritage.

The areas covered by the call are the following:

AREA 1. New perspectives on Mudejar art:
– Updating of data and knowledge on Mudejar heritage in all its diversity: Monumental, urban, ethnographic, linguistic, agrarian, hydraulic, geography, materials, processes, etc.
– Technical languages applied to the Mudejar: planimetry, photogrammetry and Mudejar 3D.
– Geolocation, cartography and maps.
– Any subject that allows to broaden the scientific base on Mudejar art.

AREA 2. Territorio Mudéjar-Cultural Landscape
– Heritage resources and people’s actions
– Natural and social contexts
– Interactions between landscape and monumentality

AREA 3. Cultural heritage management:
– New models of use beyond the classical concept of “tourist or recreational use”.
– Physical, economical and intellectual accessibility studies
– Future models for conservation or intervention.

AREA 4. Communication and dissemination of Mudejar heritage
– Mudejar heritage and the media
– New media discourses
– Interpretation and ways of accessibility to knowledge of Mudejar heritage.

AREA 5. Mudejar heritage and its social function as a key element of territorial development
– The emotional bond as a key element for the care, protection and management of heritage.
– Population contexts: The value of intergenerational experience.
– Social participation in the appreciation, exchange and collective construction of knowledge and new forms of learning.
The procedure for awarding grants will be processed on a competitive basis according to the assessment criteria established in the call for applications and, in accordance with Article 22.1 of Law 38/2003, of 17 November, the General Law on Subsidies.

2/ Applicants

Proposals may be submitted by natural persons and groups of natural persons without legal personality who meet all the requirements of this call for proposals.

The applicant (or group of applicants) may be at an initial or intermediate stage of their research career or professional activity and must provide proof of the following:

  • Higher education related to the areas covered by the call for proposals.
  • Master’s degree in Cultural Heritage Management, or related to one of the proposed areas of work, or documentary evidence of a minimum of two years of research or professional career -remunerated or not-.
Legal entities of any type: companies, associations, joint ownerships or groups under any other type of legal associative formula are not eligible to apply.

When the project is presented by two or more persons, the formula will be called “team” and each member of the team must be accredited individually.

If the project submitted is part of a research project linked to a university, public research centre or private (non-profit) centre, this must be indicated in the project report.

The acceptance of the project and the development of the stay is compatible with other professional activities as long as the mode of compatibility is specified and justified in the project report.

The project submitted may have other sources of funding as long as they are complementary and are specified in the project report. Total income may never exceed the project development costs.

3/ Requirements

Bachelor’s, Graduate’s or Architect’s degree or equivalent.
  • Master’s degree in specialised heritage and/or in the various related areas or accredit a minimum of two years of research experience and/or professional career in the field in which the proposal is developed (whether remunerated or not).
  • Be up to date with their tax and social security obligations, as well as accrediting compliance with obligations due to the reimbursement of subsidies.
  • Not be affected by any of the causes established in art. 13 of the LGS.

4/ Deadline for submission

The deadline for submission of applications is MONDAY, 12 July 2021. Proposals sent by e-mail will be accepted until 23.59 hours (Spanish peninsular time).

If the application contains errors that can be corrected, the organisation will inform the applicant so that, within three days from the date of communication, the correction can be made as an essential condition for the application to be taken into account in the evaluation process.

5/ Characteristics and conditions

Period: The schedule of projects and stays may be carried out until 24 December 2021. The project completion report must be submitted by 29 December 2021 at the latest.

Duration: Proposals must be developed within a minimum period of THREE months and a maximum of FIVE months.

Funding: Projects will have a maximum financial allocation of €6,000.00 (in the case of the accesit the maximum financial allocation will be €4,000.00) which must be justified in the project report according to the expenses indicated in the following section.

Expenses attributable to the grant: The budget must identify the concepts subject to and deriving directly from the needs of the project – for example: expenses derived from the development of the work, materials, travel, meals, accommodation, others – including, if applicable, the corresponding taxes.

In the event that the project has other sources of funding, the following must be specified: Entity, duration, actions financed (object and content) and to which part of the project it is addressed.

Compatibility: The development of the stay is compatible with other work, professional or research activities justified to the organising entity. The project must indicate the degree of compatibility and the method of work to be carried out in order to avoid overlapping and non-compliance with the conditions indicated in this call.

Number of calls: Beneficiaries may not obtain full grants in more than two consecutive calls for the same project. Therefore, resident researchers who have been beneficiaries in the last two calls will not be eligible to apply for the call and will be excluded if they do so.

** Exceptionally, researchers who have not exceeded the amount of €12,000.00 in two consecutive calls may be considered as beneficiaries if they have been awarded an accesit in previous years’ calls.

Other: Beneficiaries will be included in the entity’s civil liability insurance.

The beneficiaries will not establish any type of employment relationship with the organisation.

All grants will be subject to the withholdings and taxes stipulated by the legislation in force, which will be deducted from the corresponding economic funding.

6/ Applications

Applications must be sent to the association Territorio Mudéjar in digital format to the following e-mail address: info@territoriomudejar.es

  1. Application – Basic identification data of the applicant and the project-.
  2. Copy of ID card.
  3. Summary of the applicant/s professional career (max. 2,000 characters).
  4. Summary of the project/proposal (max. 2.000 characters)
  5. Abbreviated academic and professional curriculum vitae (max. 5 pages)
  6. Five developed projects that, in the applicant’s opinion, are relevant as a starting point for the proposal (Synthesis of each project of a max. 2.000 characters)
  7. Report of the project to be carried out, including (max. 5 pages): Title; Background and current state of the subject; Hypothesis, methodology, work plan and timetable; Description of the specific objectives of the project; Towns directly and indirectly affected by the proposal; Town or towns proposed for stay and expected length of stay; Detailed budget for the research, which will refer to the amount requested.
  8. Optionally, a letter of recommendation from a relevant person in the field of the proposed work may be provided.
  9. In the case of teams, both the application and the award decision must expressly state the implementation commitments assumed by each member of the team, as well as the amount of the grant to be applied by each of them, who will also be considered as beneficiaries. A sole representative or proxy of the grouping must be appointed, with sufficient powers to fulfil the obligations which, as beneficiary, correspond to the grouping. The team will undertake not to dissolve the grouping until the period of limitation stipulated in Articles 39 and 65 of Law 38/2003 of 17 November has elapsed.

7/ Selection process and criteria

The project selection process will be carried out on the basis of the evaluations of the Scientific Committee and the entity’s management team, which will draw up a ranking according to the following criteria:

  • Curricular profile, training and previous accomplishments of the applicant: 15%. The orientation of the curricular profile in relation to the area of work chosen by the applicant will be assessed.
  • Quality of the project and innovative nature of the proposal: 35%. The project will be valued for being well thought out and presented in a rigorous and detailed manner. The framework of objectives/actions/resources/budget must be well planned. The calendar must be realistic. The project should provide for its evaluation and future viability.
  • Area of impact / no. of localities involved: 35%. The way in which the project acts on the territory will be assessed. It may be a present or future direct impact, but in any case it will be an indispensable requirement. It will be highly valued to foresee a realistic impact without falling into the tendentious and mediatic.
  • Complementary activities involving the local population: 15%. Planning an activity that involves the local population in the development of the project will be valued. Involvement does not necessarily have to be through a cultural activity. The introduction of activities that have an unconventional cultural impact will be valued.

8/ Evaluation and decision

The decision will be communicated as of Monday 19 July 2021.

The call may be declared totally or partially void and the decision of the commissions shall be final.

Once the call for applications has been resolved, the list of beneficiaries and the composition of the evaluation committee will be published on the website of the association Territorio Mudéjar www.territoriomudejar.es.

Under no circumstances will individualised information be provided on the applications received or on the deliberations of the evaluation committee.

9/ Formalisation, justification and payment of the grants


Formalization: Beneficiaries must sign before the start date of their project, according to the calendar, and at the latest before 1 August 2021, the acceptance commitment that will act as an indispensable document for the receipt of the aid. Once the acceptance document has been signed, they must join the project on the date indicated in the calendar.

Payment: Payment of the grant will be made in three instalments: 40% at the start, once the acceptance commitment has been signed; 40% halfway through the project; and the remaining 20% upon submission of the final project report. These conditions will be general to all beneficiaries unless, exceptionally, the project report justifies the need for a different financial distribution over time.

Justification and presentation of results: Beneficiaries will be obliged to justify compliance with the requirements and conditions established in this call for proposals by means of: A mid-term report halfway through the stay that allows the progress of the project to be evaluated. A final report of the project in digital format describing objectives, fulfilment of aims and results; and an economic report justifying the cost of the activities carried out.

Financial control: The mid-term report must include a review of the estimated budget, either confirming its continuity or proposing the necessary adjustments, provided they are justified.

The final report shall include a detailed financial report as follows:
  • A list of expenses incurred indicating creditor, amount, date of issue and payment. As the project includes a budget estimating the list of expenses, it shall be classified according to the items of the subsidised project or activity. Where applicable, any deviations that may have occurred in the development of the project must be justified.
  • Proof of payment: Invoices, tickets or accrediting documents and proof of payment. If the payment has been made in cash, this must be indicated in the expense document with the concept correctly specified.
  • The justification of fees will be made by sworn statement and will be detailed in the report according to the results developed, specifying the working hours assigned to the actions carried out.
  • The justification of mileage expenses shall be made by means of a sworn declaration and a detail shall be included in the report according to the results developed, specifying the journeys made and assigned to specific actions.

Non-compliance: The grants will be cancelled and the amounts received will be refunded when the conditions established in these rules are not met and in general in the cases established in accordance with article 37 of the General Law on Subsidies.

10/ Dissemination of the Project’s results


The association Territorio Mudéjar may request the collaboration of the beneficiaries of the grants in activities for the dissemination of the projects. To this end, the beneficiary shall provide the association Territorio Mudéjar with all the information and documentation required and shall provide the latter, free of charge, with the appropriate rights for the dissemination of the results.

Beneficiaries must mention on materials or results the source of the grant by means of the phrase “Project carried out with funding from Territorio Mudéjar through the call for applications Estancias Gonzalo M. Borrás Gualis 2021” and include the organisation’s logo whenever possible.

On the other hand, the association Territorio Mudéjar will always identify the authorship of the projects.

11/ Acceptance of the rules

Participation in this call for applications implies acceptance of its rules and its decision, which shall be final, as well as the waiver of any type of claim.

Exceptionally and for duly justified reasons, the association Territorio Mudéjar reserves the right to interpret and modify the wording of the rules in order to clarify or specify their content, without this implying a substantial or arbitrary alteration of the same.

For any queries, applicants may contact the association Territorio Mudéjar by e-mail at info@territoriomudejar.es

We are starting the project “Rural school in motion”

Would you like to work with educational materials related to the Mudejar identity of the villages in the classroom? Do you understand the heritage space as an innovative learning space?

In the coming weeks the first action of the project “Rural school in motion” will begin, an introductory course to the project in which Territorio Mudéjar offers to those interested in linking education, heritage and innovation to know the starting point and the methodology with which it will work until mid 2022 together with seven of the local development groups in the province of Zaragoza coordinated by the ADRI Calatayud Aranda group.

“Rural school in motion” is a cooperation project between rural development groups coordinated by the ADRI Calatayud-Aranda group, together with Cedemar, Adefo Cinco Villas, Asomo Moncayo, Adrae Comarca Alta del Ebro, Fedivalca y Adri Jiloca Gallocanta, and financed by the Government of Aragon through the Leader programme and the Provincial Council of Zaragoza through the Territorio Mudéjar association, as a private collaborating entity that manages the implementation and execution of the initiative.

The aim is to develop educational materials related to the Mudejar identity of the villages, placing rural schools and the educational community of the villages at the centre of the project, with a triple purpose:


  • To work on the introduction of the Mudejar heritage identity in the work programmes of schools beyond the artistic or complementary areas.
  • To involve the educational community in the valuation of Mudejar heritage as part of their personal history, which favours the knowledge, conservation and dissemination of the identity of the towns.
  • To use the work carried out in schools as material for dissemination and tourist use on the Mudejar heritage of the villages for family and children audiences.
🔺 In the COURSE we will explain the working methodology and the results of the pilot project that was carried out in the CRA Vicort Isuela during the 2018-2019 academic year and which is the starting point for the implementation of the project in the schools of the villages of Territorio Mudéjar.

It will be taught by Laura Castejón and Víctor Gumiel, teachers who carried out the design and testing of the pilot project, and Victoria E. Trasobares, director ofTerritorio Mudéjar who has extensive experience in the management and implementation of Mudejar heritage management projects in rural areas.

The Department of Education has included it as an approved course in its catalogue of ongoing teacher training activities and recognises the training hours.

The course will be carried out on-line through the entity’s digital work platform that we will set up for the specific training.

Information about the course: https://mcusercontent.com/395a3a370852ce9982369da41/files/c70fb223-f20d-4813-be10-3e7c3b7c3597/CURSO_CIRCULAR.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2ih0BoCjstPS3ueZ4pTuAGNtXDsPSmKjdEUOQ2s-Zd8UkRFONZ-xijwE4

Application form: Option 1: If you have a digital certificate or signature https://doceo.catedu.es/epgfp/portada Option 2: If you do not have a digital certificate or signature, write a message to: info@territoriomudejar.es

Information about the project: https://mcusercontent.com/395a3a370852ce9982369da41/files/9591a2e9-2ee5-4ea0-bc3b-72947d2bbd3e/PROYECTO_CIRCULAR.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1iiN-Cw1NR7dgSk0_7lKDKLsd2_7lgBLF3JG6XL1CBHiyJ0G15-02DMKg

If you have any doubts or you want to consult us about any particular issue you can call us on 876 634 125 or write an email to info@territoriomudejar.es

We are back in the classroom in the Master’s course on cultural heritage management

Last week, the director of Territorio Mudéjar, Victoria Trasobares, taught one of the sessions in the Master’s course on cultural heritage management at University of Zaragoza in in-person mode, discussing how important it is to have a line of research and cataloguing of historical and artistic heritage in order to carry out significant long-term projects that have an impact on the region.

In connection with the anniversary celebrated a few days ago – World Science Day for Peace and Development – we would like to point out that the scientific method is also applied to the humanities and, obviously, to heritage. The scientific method consists in obtaining a set of knowledge through systematically structured observation and reasoning.

At Territorio Mudéjar we are committed to research as a key element and to scientific rigor in our work. Our ongoing efforts have a cross-disciplinary approach involving researchers from diverse fields, and we participate in academic networks and national and international activities such as conferences and workshops, in order to find common ground on important outcomes and conclusions based on scientific evidence, to share good practices, establish new ways of collaborating and researching, and to create synergies.

Getting back into the classroom motivated us to believe that we will soon be able go back to performing activities on-site with students like the one seen here in the photo, taken last year. This activity consisted in applying theoretical contents, using a heritage space as a place of learning.

Thus, Territorio Mudéjar progresses in its project for educating heritage professionals, which we are developing in conjunction with the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports, to define the characteristics required of managers of historical and artistic heritage in rural settings.

    Training for developing a line of work on preventive conservation

    At Territorio Mudéjar, we have completed the course offered by the Cultural Heritage Institute of Spain (IPCE) entitled “Guía para planes de conservación preventiva” (Guide to preventive conservation plans), which took place over the past four weeks. We started out by identifying and analyzing conservation issues related to cultural assets and ended with the design and implementation of procedures to address these issues. During the course, which seeks to generate standardized working procedures to which quality control rules can be applied, we discussed examples such as the actions underway in Magallón and on the tower in Ricla.

    This training activity through the IPCE allows us to develop a line of work at Territorio Mudéjar related to preventive conservation plans.

      Project MOMAr: Heritage beyond tourism

      At Territorio Mudéjar we strive to develop Mudejar heritage management practices that foster responsible, sustainable tourism designed by those in the places where the heritage is located, always in conjunction with their inhabitants. We are convinced that preservation, research and dissemination of the Mudejar identity are key factors in the creation of tourism activities.

      To consolidate this aim and share best practices, from today until November 13, we will be attending the second Interregional Event for Exchange of Experiences 2 (IEE 2), held in the province of Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands, entitled “Heritage, further than tourism: a sustainable future”.

      Researcher Irene Ruiz Bazán (professor at the Polytechnic of Turin and Territorio Mudéjar fieldwork researcher) was in charge of moderating the good practice seminars in which several towns belonging to our network stood out in the presentation of unique projects.

      The mayor of Torrellas, María Pilar Pérez, presented the Miau urban art project, which has been in place in the town since 2016.

      From Alagón, as part of the Heritage and Education seminar, Julián Millán and Pablo Sebastián discussed the interesting work they are doing at the Ribera Alta del Ebro Workshop School.

      And from Daroca, Irene Ruiz mentioned the work being done in Territorio Mudéjar, with contributions from researchers Ricardo Monreal and Marta López – 2020 Fieldwork grants – in the Mudejar civil architecture management project, which they are carrying out in accordance with the objectives of the new Fundación Campo de Daroca management body, reaching an important milestone by converting the Palacio de los Luna into a benchmark and a management model for private civil architecture.

      On Friday, streaming from the Museo de Momias in Quinto, it will be time to look to the future in the conclusion sessions and also in the workshop on rural heritage management in the era of COVID-19, an issue that Territorio Mudéjar has thoroughly addressed so as to remain active while complying with all the safety measures and ensuring the safety of our visitors, but also, above all, that of the inhabitants of our towns.

      Moreover, we have launched a multiplatform digital work solution in order to continue progressing with our projects online, aiming to work in an effective, innovative manner with historical and artistic resources, to the benefit of Mudejar heritage and our region.

      Territorio Mudéjar has a strong presence in this forum, in which up to 12 people from our network are participating: students in the Challenge Program, members of city councils like those of Villarreal de Huerva and Maluenda, 2019 and 2020 fieldwork researchers, and more.

      * Territorio Mudéjar is a member of MOMAr Interreg Europe (Models of Management for Singular Rural Heritage / Modelos de Gestión para el Patrimonio Rural Singular), which, under the leadership of the Provincial Government of Zaragoza and funded by the European Union, involves entities from six different countries.

      Territorio Mudéjar as a role model of adapting one’s work in the era of the pandemic

      Territorio Mudéjar outlined today, at the MOMAr Interregional Event, its strategy and the measures taken to continue its projects during the pandemic, in the hopes that our experience aids others in finding windows of opportunity at a time in which we must remain committed to sustainable heritage management and safe culture.

      The director of Territorio Mudéjar, Victoria Trasobares, connected from the Museo de las Momias in Quinto to talk about the ways in which Territorio Mudéjar acted responsibly to protect both its network and the inhabitants of the member towns when COVID-19 broke out and the lockdowns began in March. First, the entity analyzed its action plan for 2020 and then arranged new ways of working with the towns, partners and professionals that are part of Territorio Mudéjar.

      • Daily tours of the region were replaced with virtual efforts thanks to the development of a platform that was already in progress and has proven to be highly efficient, overcoming the distances between the member towns. This has also prompted a move to develop a similar model for smart working in each of the towns.
      • Meetings also went online and we took part in national and international conversations to prepare transnational calls for proposals. Thus, the entity has constructed a network of professionals able to work remotely at the same pace and with the same goals.
      • In addition, Territorio Mudéjar has expanded its communication environments, linking our towns with international entities.
      • This has enabled them to continue using their heritage spaces, even while working remotely. And to continue focusing on creating new models of use for heritage spaces.
      • In the process, they have had to overcome difficulties, such as having to constantly reorganize their teamwork efforts and their project timelines.
      • Another complex issue was ensuring that the work done was always certain to be respectful of the inhabitants living in the historical and artistic heritage settings.
      • They also had to reorganize catering and projects.

      As the director of Territorio Mudéjar, Victoria Trasobares, explained, “Our biggest success over these past months was our ability to naturally adapt to the unexpected situations, finding and taking advantage of the opportunities that arose along the way. For example, we have had a considerable presence in high impact projects like Google Arts and we were able to participate in high level events that, under normal circumstances, would have been hard for us to attend”.

      In general, Territorio Mudéjar has not only continued its projects, but it even expects to see significant growth in 2021.

      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.

      Mudejar valley culture, in the Ruta 67 digital catalog of the Community of Calatayud

      The Ruta 67 digital catalog was created as part of the “Descubre tu comarca” (Discover your district) employment workshop, in which Territorio Mudéjar participated by presenting one of the sessions. It maps out tours of the Community of Calatayud district, to discover its historical, cultural and culinary treasures. These routes invite travelers to enjoy the Mudejar heritage in these towns:

      Territorio Mudéjar participated in this employment workshop last year by offering a training session that included a field trip to the entity’s offices in Tobed. Participants who took part in the workshop, sponsored by the Community of Calatayud district and subsidized by the Government of Aragon and the INAEM, for a full year received a level 3 professionalism certificate for local tourism promotion and visitor information, which qualifies them to work in visitor information settings.

      Posters with QR codes will be set up in the towns through which the routes pass, which travelers can scan with their mobile phones to read the digital brochure. You can also download it here.