Icomos híradó különszám (A 37. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 2007 Eger, 2007)

and maintained a local identity, provided integrated employment for the local people, was energy efficient and admirably fit for purpose, resulting in what we currently term a sustainable approach. Compromise has become the norm Sadly, no longer recognised as such, many of the original sources of traditional building materials have long since been sterilised. A downturn in demand and increasing economic pressures; under-investment; and a wholesale unthinking drift towards the adoption of more modern, factory produced, quality controlled hybrids have made significant in-roads into the building industry without any consideration being given to the fact that the existing building stock may need to be repaired using the original materials. As a result, a negation of the quality and appearance of our indigenous building stock has been steadily growing in scale over the past century to the point where the aggregated result risks its originality and integrity. Compromise, in all aspects of the industry and its work, has long since become the standard approach. A reawakening Against such an unsatisfactory background, the emerging sign of this created dilemma is beginning to occur. The awareness of the need to identify where original materials came from; the understanding that climatic influences can add to the maintenance needs of structures; the recognition that poor repair techniques can compound the problems; the concern that previous unsatisfactory maintenance work has added to future repair bills; the lack of available traditional building materials; and the acknowledgement that we may not have the properly trained craftsmen to do the work, are amongst the issues that are starting to come to the fore. Whilst it is not too late to turn many of these issues around, the challenge involved in doing so will be considerable. A holistic approach and strategy, that involves all sectors of the industry, will be necessary. A built heritage training, education and support activities framework needs to be devised. At its heart there will be a need to obtain the missing knowledge and convert it into educational and training outputs. Scottish Lime Centre, Charlestown, Fife: Experimental Lime Kiln (Photo: Ingval Maxwell) The vocational understanding that we once had will have to be re-learnt through research, distilled and translated for use by the learned community. The awareness of how traditional craftsmen exercise their skills needs to be reidentified and translated for adoption by the present training providers. Inevitably, this will require a degree of re-training the trainers to ensure that their relearnt understandings are imparted effectively. This, in turn, will require an effective and new communication route to be established between the academic, educational and vocational worlds. There is a risk however that any effort into these areas could be badly misplaced if there is not the same effort put into ensuring that the supply of the full range of traditional building materials can also be assured. There was little point in educating specifiers to specify correctly, or train craftsmen to work properly on traditional buildings if it is found impossible to obtain the original materials to do the work correctly in the first place. Acknowledging that many substitute materials are already in use, clearly there is a demand to be satisfied. But more often than not, these materials are chosen on the grounds of cheapness, their ready availability and