ITES 2005-1st International Trades Education Symposium
Belmont Technical College, St. Clairsville, Ohio, October 5-6, 2005

On October 5-6, 2005, more than seventy five preservation tradespeople, educators and others concerned with preserving the built heritage gathered at Belmont Technical College for the 1st International Trades Education Symposium (ITES).  Generous support from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and World Monuments Fund helped to make this a truly international gathering, featuring presentations by educators and tradespeople from Germany, Sweden, France, England, Ireland, Scotland and Japan. 

The Symposium was the first major event organized under PTN’s International Trades Education Initiative (ITEI).  It was designed to create opportunities for dialog and exploration of domestic and international models for building trades education and discussion of issues impacting the future of the building trades.  The presentations and informal working sessions centered on recognizing common interests and goals for building trades education and establishing international contacts for sustained exchanges between both individuals and education programs.  Holding the Symposium during the same week as IPTW and the concurrent Stone Foundation Symposium allowed many of those attending to move seamlessly between events.  A number of the ITES presenters picked up their tools after the meetings to work on demonstration projects during IPTW.  Marjorie Hunt of the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folk Life & Cultural Heritage addressed the planning meeting and retreat before the Symposium, speaking about the living heritage of the trades in the work of master practitioners like plasterer Earl Barthé of New Orleans.

The Symposium sessions on Wednesday were organized to examine the three principal modes of learning and teaching the trades – academic, vocational and experiential.  In sessions moderated by Michael Tomlan of Cornell University; Jan Rosvall, Director, Institute of Conservation at Goteborg University in Sweden; and Chris Koziol, of the Architectural Preservation Institute, Colorado State University, addressed the evolution of perceptions of the trades as reflected in approaches to education and training.  Morris Hylton III, of the World Monuments Fund,  examined vocational education programs through sessions presented by Kate Burns Ottavino, Director of Preservation, Brooklyn High School for the Arts, Brooklyn, New York,  and Bill Hole, Historic Preservation Coordinator, College of the Redwoods, Eureka, California.  Gerard C. J. Lynch introduced a review of apprenticeship programs and experiential learning models by Patrick McAfee, National Training & Employment Authority of Dublin, Ireland, Toshio Okuzumi, Chihiro Architects, Japan and Takashi Watanabe, of Fuhki Building Contractor, Japan, along with Jeff Orton, Master Plasterer, Leicestershire, England. Filippo Campagna presented an overview of the programs of the Gewerbe-Akademie, Rottweil, Germany.  Daniel Wawszczyk spoke on the traditions and current practice of the Association Ouvrière des Compagnons du Devoir du Tour de France.  John Laing presented updates on the programs at Edinburgh’s Telford College and Christopher Ohrstrom detailed the Falmouth Heritage Renewal program in Jamaica.

On Thursday morning David Watt, Senior Research Fellow, DeMontfort University, Leicester, England, stressed the critical importance of maintenance as a component of all trades education in conservation of historic structures.  Hugh C. Miller, educator and former Chief Historical Architect of the National Park Service, reviewed the last fifty years of training preservation specialists in the National Park Service and the range of opportunities and challenges existing today in his talk The Preservation Trades: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.  Judy Hayward, of the Preservation Education Institute in Windsor, VT;  Fiona Lynch, of Buckinghamshire, England; and David Mertz, of Belmont Technical College, served as moderators for open sessions in which all participants exchanged views on areas of importance for follow-up and action.

The Symposium speakers and participants came from many different backgrounds, traditions and modes of learning.  However, all were united by a common belief in the critical importance of the work of the hand – as well as the work of the mind – and by respect for the trades knowledge and heritage which has shaped the best of our built environment.  The conviction that the vitality of the trades is essential to the future of our communities was shared by all, as well as the resolve to generate not just ideas, but action.

Special thanks go to hosts Belmont Technical College and Ohio University Eastern and to David Mertz, James Galbraith and the faculty and staff of the Building Preservation Program at Belmont Tech for their hard work and hospitality.  Also to Bryan Blundell, former Managing Director of PTN and especially to Michael Tomlan, Morris Hylton III and Dr. Gerard C.J. Lynch for all of their work over the last year in bringing form to the many discussions that generated this event.  The World Monuments Fund also integrated the first meeting of the Task Force for the WMF Traditional Building Arts Training Initiative (TBATI) into the symposium, an event which represents the spirit of partnership and cooperative effort that the symposium was intended to stimulate.

The energy and momentum from these exchanges has not diminished in the months following the Symposium.  Existing relationships have been strengthened and energized and new connections have been added to the network of educators and tradespeople working to promote the continuing vitality and relevance of the traditional trades.  For all who attended the  Symposium, the opportunity to meet and find common ground in the international effort to strengthen the role and capabilities of the traditional building trades has directly resulted in a number of collaborative efforts that are already showing significant progress in creating international partnerships and programs. 

To date three International Trades Education Symposia have been held, ITES 2005 at Belmont Technical College in St. Clairsville, Ohio, ITES 2007 in Tällberg, Sweden and ITES 2009 in Leadville, Colorado. ITES 2011 will be held in Lincoln, England, May 19-22, 2011.

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