In Britain, the security of significant historical architecture is taken for granted.  Organisations such as English Heritage, the 20th Century Society and the World  Monument Fund act as watchdogs and funders for notable buildings and places worth preserving. And the public generally values ‘heritage’ architecture.

In Transylvania, a relatively poor agricultural region in Romania, the cultural value of historic architecture strikes less of a popular chord. This was a key challenge for Nikki Linsell, whose attempt to accurately assess the historical and vernacular detail of Saxon villages and communes on behalf of the Mihai Eminescu Trust was often met with local indifference.

The A4A project, whose team was led by Linsell, was designed to help the Trust plan  preservation schemes for the built fabric of villages, and to revive a sense of community. In selected neighbourhoods, the Trust helps local people develop new sources of income,  not least through payment for architectural restoration work using local materials and historically appropriate techniques.

‘The initial aim of the project,’ explained Linsell, ‘was to produce architectural studies of  the beleaguered houses to promote and document this unique and valuable architectural vernacular. However, during the initial surveying trip in February 07, it became evident that there was a lack of support from the local community regarding the Trust’s work. ‘The  ethics of conservation in a developing society is a strongly contested subject,’ she said.  ‘It’s easy to perceive that conservation might be counter-productive to development, an  attempt to halt the process of social and environmental progression. It can, however, be  seen as the reverse: a way of preventing environmental degradation that then becomes a catalyst for social and economic evolution. I believe that by encouraging the engagement  of local communities in preserving the unique character of these Saxon villages, they can sustain their own ethnically pluralistic communities.’

Thus, Linsell’s Plan A morphed into Plan B. She organised a one-day seminar on  Community Action Planning. A Rapid Ethnographic Assessment Procedure was also  developed to give the Trust a better understanding about ways to get different ethnic  groups to participate in its work. ‘To encourage a society that, for decades, existed under a  socially rigid communist system, and is still coming to terms with the reality of new  political and free-market economic conditions, requires a very carefully constructed   method of increasing engagement,’ she noted.