Session #12:
More Reality! Heritage As Constraints vs Critical Foundation for Return
Dr. Tamas Fejérdy 
Architect and Specialist in Monument Conservation and Restoration, Budapest (Hungary)
Dr. Tamás Fejérdy was born in Budapest in 1947.
He is an ICOMOS Piero Gazzola Prize-bearing (2023) architect, specialist in monument conservation and restoration. From 1976 to 2013 he was a staff member of the Hungarian Central Institute for the Protection of Historic Monuments, in 2002/2003 he was the chairperson of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
Honorary Member of ICOMOS, Associate Professor at the Budapest University of Technology, Honorary Professor at the University of Pannonia (Veszprém, Hungary), a staff member of the iASK/FTI and UNESCO Department in Kőszeg.
His fields of expertise are: Integrated protection of monuments/built heritage and protected areas, World Heritage cooperation, theoretical and practical issues related to monuments and sites.
Anke Matthys 
Site Manager World Heritage Site, Vichy (France)
Anke is a geographer and town planner, and local coordinator for the town of Vichy of the World Heritage site ‘Great Spa Towns of Europe’. He has previously worked in study and research centres and as a consultant, notably on sustainable urban development issues. His current work on World Heritage includes reconciling urban and spa development projects with the challenges of preserving heritage and adapting to climate change.
He has written several articles, notably for EHTTA ‘Revival of the thermal heart of Vichy: restoration of the Parc des Sources and renovation of its surrondings’ (2024) or for ICOMOS Wallonie-Bruxelles ‘Vichy, modèle d'une ville d'eaux’ (2022).
Barbara van der Wee 
Architect – Spa (Belgium)
Architect Barbara Van der Wee is manager of Barbara Van der Wee Architects - studio for architecture & conservation, based in Brussels, Belgium. The office focuses on the restoration, conservation and rehabilitation of 19th and 20th century monuments, including a large number of art nouveau buildings by Victor Horta. Van der Wee is also part of interdisciplinary collaborations for complex architectural projects with high heritage value, such as the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, the Ghent University Library and the former Thermes de Spa.
Barbara Van der Wee is prof. em. at the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation of the KU Leuven.
In 2010 she became a member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts.
Additionally she is involved in ICOMOS, and contributes as an expert to UNESCO.
Chiara Ronchini 
Secretary General, Great Spa Towns of Europe
Chiara Ronchini is Secretary General of the Great Spa Towns of Europe, a serial transnational World Heritage Site inscribed in 2021.
Her career in cultural heritage began focusing on water heritage in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, coming full circle with her current work on Europe's thermal heritage.
An Urbanist and British Architect, she has over 16 years' experience in World Heritage, climate change and responsible tourism.
She is a member of ICOMOS Scientific Committees and working groups on climate change, human rights and participatory approaches, and consults for ICCROM on World Heritage topics.
She is also lectures in Urbanism at Edinburgh Napier University. Previously, she worked for Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh World Heritage, and as UNESCO consultant in three continents.
