The activities of the Foundation for the Preservation of Silesian Industrial Heritage in the field of preservation and adaptation of historic post-industrial buildings for contemporary functions

Abstract

The adaptive reuse of historic buildings is one of the important contemporary challenges of spatial management. The aim of the study was to verify whether and to what extent adaptive processes can be effectively implemented by NGOs. The text analyzes the activities of such an entity, answering the question of to what extent its intervention has become an opportunity for the survival of post-industrial heritage resources in a way that preserves their substance, cultural values, and relations with the surrounding space and community. The case study concerns an example of such an organization – the Foundation for the Preservation of Silesian Industrial Heritage. The analysis of the NGO’s activities was based on materials provided by the Foundation, an interview with the Foundation’s head, and information obtained from Foundation employees, as well as participant observation and visits to facilities managed by the Foundation. The analysis covers the period from 2004, when the NGO took over the first of the buildings. The organization performs, albeit with varying intensity and effect, all the functions that a NGO involved in the care of heritage sites and spaces can perform. The most important of these are inducing local change and indirectly influencing the activities of other entities, building resource resilience, and implementing a service program of historical, social, and ecological significance. The organization’s influence on mobilizing capital is also important, in particular the involvement of local communities in the participatory management of heritage spaces.