Online seminar Railway heritage and tourism, the first knowledge-sharing event of the Railway Heritage for Sustainable Tourism Development – Rail4V4+V project was held on January 26, 2022. Our Polish partner, The Foundation for the Protection of Silesian Industrial Heritage, was the event organiser.
The participants were welcomed by Anica Draganić, head of the Rail4V4+V project.
Piotr Gerber, professor of Wroclaw University of Technology and president of the Foundation, was a moderator of the seminar. He gave the first lecture on theoretical and practical issues in protecting industrial heritage, emphasising railway heritage in Poland.
Maciej Mądry, director of Zinc Rolling Mill WALCOWNIA, presented the historical background and nowadays condition of five railway sites from Poland included in the Rail4V4+V project.
Howard Jones, the railway heritage expert and director of the Wolsztyn Experience course, provided fantastic examples of British railway tourism to be followed in our practice.
Bartosz Walczak, professor of the Łódz University of Technology, opened many questions on problems and challenges in railway heritage preservation and presentation.
The focal target group of the seminar were the owners and users of railway locations that are part of this. We had 30 participants from 5 countries. Participants discussed different topics: difficulties in managing railway heritage museums in post-covid time, financial and regulatory issues, the role of local and state authorities, questions of values and perception, networking.
This seminar provided an excellent opportunity to share experiences on both practical and regulatory issues. Our project team will implement the seminar conclusions in the Guidelines for the railway tourism development.
