The importance of integrated projects in historic conservation education

Abstract

The Erasmus Mundus Advanced Masters in Structural Analysis of Monuments and Historical Constructions (SAHC) is a unique European program. It is a Master Program jointly run by four Universities on the conservation of architectural heritage structures, with the goal of producing an international platform of competence. The educational objective of SAHC is to offer an advanced engineering program on the conservation of structures, with a focus on cultural heritage buildings. The program is composed of eight units (SA-1 through SA-8). SA-7 is the Integrated Project which is a projectbased unit that includes group projects to solve real engineering problems with heritage structures. This paper will describe and demonstrate the importance of the integrated project as part of the overall education of emerging engineering professionals in the field of conservation of the built cultural heritage. While successful in Europe, the SAHC program with its Integrated Project could be used as a model for other countries to implement a quality education program for engineers in the conservation of heritage structures.