The town and its gold mine became the catalysts for Romania’s largest environmental protest movement since the fall of communism, after the Romanian government approved a draft law enabling a Canadian company’s mining project to commence in 2013. As a result of the public unrest, the mining project has been suspended, pending a final verdict.
The company intended to develop an open-pit project at Rosia Montana in Transylvania, using over 40 tons of cyanide a day, in order to extract around 340 tons of gold. Apart from its environmental consequences, the project would also entail wiping out over 900 buildings. The town has 50 listed historic monuments. Of these, seven have been ascribed national and universal value, illustrating the uniqueness of Rosia Montana’s cultural heritage.
According to the “Statement of Significance: Carnic Massif, Rosia Montana” published by Oxford University experts, the mines at Rosia Montana should be recognised as aUNESCO World Heritage Site, as they are the most extensive and important underground Roman gold mines in the world, where the mining techniques used by the Romans have been immaculately preserved. The Oxford publication goes further, arguing that Rosia Montana possesses an invaluable and detailed record of Roman, medieval, modern, and Communist period mining exploitation, contained not only in the mining galleries, but also in the surface landscape of ore processing areas, settlements, religious places and cemeteries.
In order to win support for its mining project, the Canadian company declared that it would preserve the historic centre in Rosia Montana by renovating its buildings. However, it only intended to commence restoration after the cyanide extraction had begun. Given the buildings’ frailty, they would likely collapse, conveniently relieving the company of its financial restoration responsibilities.
In response to Gabriel Resources’ lack of adequate restoration actions, as well as to combat the local Adopta o Casa work in progress-authorities’ negligence in protecting local heritage, the “Adopt a House” (“Adopta o Casa” in Romanian) initiative was launched in 2010. A collaborative initiative between Alburnus Maior, the Rosia Montana local residents’ association and the ARA Association, the program was dedicated to restoring the town’s invaluable heritage to enable the its sustainable development.
One of the initiative’s leaders is Claudia Apostol, a young architect who co-founded the ARA Association and is a key volunteer in the campaign to save Rosia Montana. Through her work, Claudia strives to encourage people to step outside their comfort zone and fight for the social changes that they want.
Adopt a House recognises that Rosia Montana’s heritage value does not exclusively stem from its gold mines but acknowledges that the locals have built a beautiful town, more akin to a small city rather than a village, as a result of the wealth generated by gold ore exploitation. Claudia stresses that the town is “an entire universe, still largely preserved, which tells the story of a community over millennia that is always in transition since its formation.” Its remarkable evolution and the stories which evoke this process constitute the inheritance of Rosia Montana in Romania’s Apuseni Mountains, but are unjustly rendered invisible. The latter are not valuable from an academic viewpoint, but represent an inexhaustible resource to ensure the town’s prosperity.
The initiative was launched as a response to the pleas of Rosia Montana’s supporters, who wished to do more than simply participate in protests or get involved in awareness raising, and who wanted to take part, alongside the ARA specialists, in the campaign to protect and valorize their heritage. It is also intended for home owners in Rosia Montana who are unwilling to abandon their properties and who want to maintain their lifestyle in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner in their community.
“Adopt a House” is not a typical restoration program. It will most likely never operate at the pace of a contracted and specialised service. However, that was never what Claudia and her team intended. Instead, from the start, they assumed that the program, like the rest of the activities undertaken to support the Rosia Montana community, must illustrate the contributions made by all who were involved.
During its first year, “Adopt a House” chose four valuable houses to be restored in Rosia Montana. Activities were focused on both direct intervention in heritage buildings and informing, educating and mobilising the general public. Claudia confesses: “Miraculous things happen when someone fixes a building with their own hands. The person makes an investment in the deepest way possible, becomes involved in a process in which he renounces the role of spectator and chooses to utilize his individual skills and motivation to benefit a cause. In the long run, this approach has consequences that change not only how people perceive involvement in general but also their inclination towards authentic values in the way that they choose to watch an old house, as well as funnel their resources and abilities in the future for the betterment of the community, not just themselves.”
In 2015, “Adopt a House” is hoping to finalise the restoration of the Fallow House, a traditional house on the town’s periphery, and the unitarian parsonage and re-open both to the public. It has also included a new building in its restoration program, the Uniat Church. For this, the goal is to finalise all the preliminary documentation needed to put together the architectural project. The Church’s portico needs priority restoration. Part of the emergency work needed for it has already started. The initiative’s website provides detailed rehabilitation plans for each of the buildings being restored, including necessary materials and costs.
Claudia emphasises that the project uses only traditional, regional materials and techniques and strives to work with remaining local craftsmen. The shingles, lime and wood are purchased from local suppliers. The initiative also strives to involve local residents, who, using the experience they gain through their involvement, can perpetuate the aforementioned traditional techniques.
Annually, around 100 volunteers participate in the program. This number varies depending on the amount of donations the project receives, which are partly used to cover the volunteers’ various costs, including food expenses.
The volunteers are selected based on their willingness to learn and work in a team of people dedicated to restoring patrimony, not their architectural experience. One of the key goals of the initiative is to render the volunteers increasingly sensitive to the main patrimonial conservation problems.
Although in past years, volunteers have applied strictly through the website’s recruitment platform, this year, Adopt a House started partnering with multiple architectural universities in Romania, such as Cluj, Iasi and Timișoara, through which students can fulfil their obligatory practice via a two-week internship as part of the program.
The bulk of the financial support comes from individual donors, who are able to choose which house they would like to see their funds being used to restore. Based on financial figures, the project leaders decide what their priorities will be. In its first year, the program received financial support from the National Cultural Fund Administration and from Romania’s Architect Union. The Union has proven to be the initiative’s most consistent supporter, by making annual contributions to ensure the smooth running of the restorations. In 2015, “Adopt a House” managed to secure funding from the Order of Architects in Romania.
Apart from “Adopt a House”, Claudia is involved in many other social change initiatives. One of the young change maker’s long-term goals is for the necessities and demands of Romanian citizens’ to truly start shaping public policy and the decisions of public authority.
For this reason, in 2015, Claudia has been involved in launching new projects that bring the audience closer to the true meaning of involvement, social consultation and respecting public will. One of them is de-clic.ro, a petition platform seeking to mobilise citizens on matters of public interest that are proposed by the citizens themselves. The right to petition is a fundamental one in Romania but is nevertheless underestimated or misused. Collaboration between different actors working on similar themes, such as citizens and NGOs can lead to positive results. Two of de-clic.ro’s pilot initiatives have sparked reactions and decisions from the authorities. For Claudia, this is not surprising. She enthuses: “If you know what to ask and whom to ask, and if your effort is applied correctly in the key moments of a debate, you as a citizen can determine the changes you desire.”
While determined to help bring about social change in Romania, Claudia believes that change in her country is still reactive in nature, rather than brought about by determined, relevant initiatives. The Romanian public mobilizes only when the authorities advance proposals and initiatives that are controversial and spark social debate. Rosia Montana is just one example. For her, the purpose of the all civic action is to educate the general public to shift from defensive to offensive. Citizens should establish the public agenda, not simply react to movements that appear in the political and socio-economic realms. Claudia believes that only then can fundamental change occur.
When advising other young facilitators of change, Claudia emphasises: “Doors that seem locked can be opened with a bit of creativity, a seed of ambition and a strong desire to work in a team, find allies and give up some of your personal vanity in favour of the common good.”
As far as “Adopt a House” is concerned, Claudia and her team are hoping to attract more international volunteers and supporters, in order to build international awareness regarding both Rosia Montana’s inestimable heritage value and the challenges it faces at a global level.
This article has been written based on an interview with Claudia Apostol, founder of the ARA Association and a key leader of “Adopt a House” at Rosia Montana. Originally published on New Eastern Europe.
