Often ignored or treated as a relic of the past, Romania’s industrial heritage nevertheless finds defenders in local initiatives that try to bring it back to life. “We close the ranks around the last furnace”, initiated by the Make Better Association, documents the history and the people who shaped the industrial identity of Reșița, transforming an abandoned monument into a symbol of the community. At the same time, the “Identity and Heritage: Rediscovering the Jiului Valley” project of the Urban Lab organization maps the buildings of historical and architectural value in the region, creating a digital map that brings local heritage to life.
From Reșita to Valea Jiului, two independent projects give life to the industrial heritage.
In a country where major theatres, museums or established festivals hardly manage to keep culture afloat, much of artistic life takes place outside the institutions. Romania has around 4,000 non-governmental organizations active in the cultural field – small groups, local associations or artist collectives that work constantly, often without public visibility and without stable support. For many of these actors, the National Cultural Fund Administration (AFCN) has become, in recent years, the only chance to move their projects forward. Created in 2005, AFCN operates under the authority of the Ministry of Culture, but has autonomy in organizing funding sessions. In 2025, only 31% of the 702 projects registered in the first session received support – the rest remained outside.
This is the sixth episode of the “Arta de a ristista” series, “Weekend Adevărul” brand, about the people and initiatives that keep culture alive in Romania. In this episode, we talk about projects that save industrial heritage and bring communities closer to their own past.
Heritage at risk: local mobilizations to save the past
In the heart of Reșița, the last furnace left standing – class A historical monument – has become the focal point of a collective effort to save and capitalize on the industrial heritage. The project “We are closing the ranks around the last furnace”, carried out by the Make Better Association, aims to bring back into focus not only the industrial history of the city, but also the people who have contributed, for generations, to the development of Reșița as a steel hub. “It narrowly escaped demolition in the 1990s-2000s,” says Marina Batog, co-founder of Make Better. The stake of the project is clear: mobilizing civic and institutional support for the furnace to be taken over, restored and transformed into a visitable objective, a true anchor of local and regional identity.
The financial support offered by AFCN was vital, says Marina Batog: “AFCN funding covers an area that is not covered by anything else. There is no substitute for this kind of initiative.” The annual recursion of these financings allowed the team to continue, year after year, long-term projects, gradually building a coherent revitalization strategy for the industrial heritage of the Banatul Montan. A good part of the budget went towards documenting the history of the furnace and the last generations of furnace workers, in a race against time – because “this generation is nearing the end of its life, and the industrial memory risks being lost”.
The project also included a study visit to the Czech Republic and Poland, to industrial sites already restored and transformed, where 27 specialists from administration, NGOs and heritage institutions saw firsthand what such a success means. “We definitely returned other people from there”, emphasizes Marina Batog, “and I think this gives us an inspiration and a motivation to do similar urban regeneration processes in the country”.
A visit to the Czech Republic and Poland showed how industrial sites can be reborn – a model for Reșita.
The funding also enabled the preparation of a major community mobilization event at the end of July, with open doors, debates, workshops and guided tours, designed especially for young people and those who have not yet had contact with the local industrial heritage. Civic support and positive feedback from the local community was not long in coming. “We collaborate with several local civic organizations that are very supportive of our approach,” notes Batog.
Without these funds, things would have remained stuck in an administrative inertia: “No one would have done this mobilization and coalition, and things would have remained in this inertia. Although this is a historical monument of class A, listed at the very beginning of 2000, unfortunately, there was no sustained, persistent initiative, able to coalesce the institutions mandated in this field and civil society, and generate a process of his revitalization”. Through such projects, Make Better managed to ignite a spark that, Marina Batog hopes, will continue to burn in the future, ensuring continuity of effort and long-term involvement.
The future, however, depends on maintaining predictability and a decent threshold of public funding for culture. “If funding becomes sporadic and unpredictable, it’s hard to do brave projects with real impact. There is no substitute for AFCN, and the competition is already very high. Without this kind of funding, many of these initiatives would not exist.”
Rediscovering the heritage of Valea Jiului
In Valea Jiului, history is not only found in the stories of the miners, but also in the buildings that have shaped the life of the community – from traditional homes to industrial or social constructions. Many of them are at risk of being forgotten, and others have already reached a state of decay. The “Identity and Heritage: Rediscover the Jiului Valley” project, initiated by the Urban Lab Association, aims to bring these buildings back to the public’s attention and stimulate interest in their protection. “It’s a project through which we want to draw a little attention to buildings with historical or cultural, architectural value”, explains Popa Bogdan, vice president of the organization. To do this, Urban Lab is preparing an online map that will bring together 30 representative buildings for the identity of the Jiu Valley – from old houses and railway stations to industrial facilities and constructions with a social role. “We want to include, this year, 30 buildings from Valea Jiului, whether they belong to vernacular, traditional, railway, industrial, social architecture”, says Popa Bogdan.
The financing obtained through AFCN made possible not only the creation of the digital platform, but also the expansion of the project’s activities – including the organization of a student internship in partnership with the University of Architecture in Timișoara. “We need this funding for everything related to the technical part of the project – from design and documentation, to the actual creation of the online platform, where it is necessary to work with specialists in web design and programming”, says Popa Bogdan. Without this support, many of the planned activities would have been reduced or even impossible to put into practice: “Probably our actions would be less, because we have other activities in this project… they are activities that require financing, otherwise we would not be able to put these funds from our own funds”.
Between ruins and memories, Urban Lab rebuilds people’s connection with their own past.
Reactions from the community have been encouraging since the beginning of the project. The launch took place through a conference attended by over 30 people, and the initiative generated collaborations with other groups active on the topic of local heritage. “There are other older initiatives that over time have carried out various activities around this topic and have responded positively to this initiative, and a network of help has even been created between us, in the community”, says Popa Bogdan.
Looking to the future, Popa Bogdan warns that without such funds, many initiatives in small communities could disappear. “We believe that at least the funds from the AFCN are important for supporting the various initiatives related to the cultural side of Romania, in general. And it would certainly diminish the efforts of some associations, initiative groups, companies that have a harder time or are smaller, and operate in small communities. It could certainly have a negative effect and the activities of those who do this would be diminished.”
The rediscovery and valorization of local heritage depends on the involvement of the community, but also on the existence of stable and accessible financing. Without dedicated support, many projects with a real impact risk remaining at the idea stage, and the memory of the places being lost along with their edifices. The sustainability of these efforts means not only the preservation of the past, but also a chance for the future of local communities.
