“By creating we think, by living we learn” Patrick Geddes
The language of urban conservation is universal. All countries which place a value on their built cultural heritage, and recognise its potential in contributing to a dynamic and sustainable future for the built environment, require robust systems of evaluation and management of the cultural heritage in the present.
Recognising that every country has a built heritage which it wishes to preserve, the MSc programme in International Urban Conservation has been designed to enable individuals from appropriate academic backgrounds to build a career in what, for many practitioners, is a vocation as much as a profession. The programme examines the physical, social and economic dimensions of what is now an international discipline, adopting a comparative approach to the International context.
Effective protection of the built heritage is rooted in town planning practice. The IUC programme is appropriately located in Town and Regional Planning, part of the University of Dundee's School of the Environment . The University, which was granted its Royal Charter in 1967, is the higher education institution which confers the Master's degree in International Urban Conservation on successful candidates.
Effective urban conservation requires a legislative framework in order that the core principles stemming from its philosophical and practical bases can be implemented. Statutory protection in turn demands a method of selecting what is to be preserved, a method of control which allows desirable and necessary works to be undertaken, effective sanctions when offences occur and a support system which includes financial aid, advice, technical skills and systematic management.
Designed to complement the acclaimed MSc European Urban Conservation, this intensive 12-month taught Master's programme matches ICOMOS guidelines on the training of heritage professionals. It provides both an academic understanding of urban conservation philosophy and policy in respect of historic buildings, sites and areas and the practical skills necessary to put these core values into practice.
This exacting and challenging discipline, which has long been seen as crucial to our cultural wellbeing, must now also embrace issues as diverse as economic regeneration, sustainability and education. Reflecting political will, urban conservation can often be at the forefront of community action. As such, conservation is not just about the management of the most famous monuments and areas, the must-see tourist sites. It is just as much about what the public likes, such as a modest but cherished local scene, and in some cases about things they may actually dislike - for example, some of the monuments of modern architecture. It is about technical preservation and restoration, and about emotional responses to and psychological connections with the historic built environment. The IUC programme aims to place building conservation within this widest possible context, whilst preparing students for professional employment in the management of the historic built environment.
Housed within the Matthew Building on the main University Campus, the IUC programme has an atelier ethos, providing a common studio space in which students can work independently or in groups benefiting from each others diverse knowledge and experience. The studio has a small dedicated library, and the Matthew Building also houses specialist workshops, lecture theatres, sophisticated high technology facilities and a well-resourced main library. Elsewhere on campus students can access further academic, social, leisure and support services.
Dundee itself is a bustling, friendly city, beautifully situated on the Tay estuary. It was for a long time Scotland's second city and now faces the common problem of reconciling a care for the past with concern for the future. With almost 1000 protected buildings, 16 conservation areas, a surrounding area rich in on-site case studies and good links with other historic towns and cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, St Andrews and Perth, it is an excellent place in which to study urban conservation.
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