PONT Group presented the Castle in Transylvania strategy in the courtyard of the castle of Gilău on the 25th of June, 2016. The strategy is written in three languages (Romanian, Hungarian and English) with the collaboration of experts and castle owners. The aim of the strategy is to contribute in the revitalization of the cultural heritage through a support-community and coalition.
András Farkas, the co-founder of PONT Group emphasized that the strategy offers a frame for long-term collaborations by which we can build collaborations for the castles between institutions, organizations, entrepreneurs, castle owners, experts for the sustainable capitalization of the castles. As it is said in the strategy ”Castle in Transylvania imagines the future through a community and an organizational support network for the Transylvanian castles and mansions which aims to conserve, restore and capitalise the economic, cultural and tourist potential”.
The strategic objectives of the document concentrates around three central dimensions: increasing the role of culture in economical revival, revitalizing cultural heritage, increasing of castles’ role in social development. These three dimensions centres on four priorities, such as developing castles as economic units, units of local attractiveness, cultural establishments, community establishments.
Besides publishing the strategy in three languages, in the last 15 months PONT Group has developed a database containing the profiles and pictures of 300 castles and manors – these can be browsed on www.castleintransylvania.ro. Moreover, PONT Group has created the Castle in Transylvania cellphone application showing 300 castles and manors which was downloaded for more than 600 times. The initiators have presented using an infographic the Transylvanian castles’ history marking its milestones.
Between March and June PONT Group disseminated the results of the project amongst a wide audience. During these occasions the strategic document was presented and institutional connections have been created on local, regional, national and European level.
The Castle in Transylvania – strategies and development models project is supported by a grand from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway trough the Ministry of Culture – Project Management Unit in the cadre of “Conservation and Revitalization of the Cultural and Natural Patrimony” – financed trough SEE 2009–2014 Financial Mechanism with an amount of 235.107,43 RON.
