Erasmus+ BIP at TUIASI: where heritage meets sustainability
In May, Iași became the setting for an international academic conversation about how heritage buildings can be preserved, reinterpreted, and responsibly adapted for the future through the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme “Sustainable Materials and Techniques in Heritage Building Projects”, organised by the “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iași through its Faculty of Civil Engineering and Building Services.
The programme was designed in a blended format, combining an online meeting held on April 24, 2026 with in-person activities that took place in Iași from May 18 to May 22, 2026. This structure created continuity between ideas, institutions, and people, while offering a flexible setting for academic exchange and collaborative reflection.
Professors, researchers, and administrative staff from European and partner universities came together around a topic that is becoming increasingly important: how can historic buildings be preserved without overlooking today’s expectations related to comfort, energy performance, functionality, and environmental responsibility?
At the heart of the programme was a powerful idea: traditional buildings already embody forms of sustainability. Built over time with locally available materials and adapted to light, climate, and environmental conditions, they reflect a long-standing relationship between architecture, place, and resource awareness. In this context, heritage was not discussed as something frozen in the past, but as a valuable source of knowledge for the future.
During the programme, participants explored themes such as building materials and construction solutions used in heritage buildings, both past and present, the use of modern tools and digital technologies in heritage design, numerical and virtual techniques for simulation and modelling, and the role of contemporary technologies in coordinating and monitoring conservation work.
The experience was not limited to conference rooms. It also included fieldwork, study visits, and brainstorming sessions that connected academic discussion with the cultural atmosphere of the city. The programme concept itself highlighted emblematic locations in Iași, such as Copou Park and the Botanical Garden, as meaningful places for concluding discussions on heritage conservation and sustainable thinking.
What made the event especially valuable was the diversity of voices involved. Universities from Romania, Portugal, Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, Albania, South Africa, Chile, Türkiye, Georgia, Algeria, and Uruguay were part of the broader academic dialogue created around this programme.
At a time when sustainability is no longer just a trend but a shared responsibility, the programme hosted by TUIASI showed that heritage conservation is not only about protecting the past. It is also about designing thoughtful pathways for the future, learning from traditional knowledge, and building stronger international networks around common challenges.
Through this Erasmus+ BIP, TUIASI once again strengthened its role as a space for international cooperation, interdisciplinary dialogue, and academic initiatives that connect education, research, and society around topics with real relevance
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