The Swedish Association for Building Preservation (Svenska byggnadsvårdsföreningen) is an independent, non-profit organization, concerned with buildings and environments of all types and from all periods all over Sweden. The association is taking part in the public debate to support opinions on preservation matters and advocates building preservation as a sustainable resource management for a society in ecological balance.
We arrange conferences, seminars, guided tours and other activities. Our about 60 representatives all over Sweden are links to the different regions and they organize local and regional activities as well as creating opinion in favour for preservation issues. The association has annual meetings, normally in May. These meetings take place in different districts each year.
The Association runs a list highligting heritage at risk, Gula listan on the website since 2008. The Yellow List shows buildings and built environments with historical and/or cultural values in Sweden which in different ways are under threat of demolition, improper alteration or lack of maintenance. In other words – simply not been taken proper care of. The goal is not to create a complete list, but rather to highlight and illustrate what happens to – and what threats – our cultural environment is facing. By putting up buildings on the Yellow list, we want to create public opinion and debate – and thus influence the outcome of the objects. Anyone can propose buildings or building sites to the list.
The Association publish a periodical – Byggnadskultur (Built Heritage). Four issues are published each year containing articles about preservation projects, building traditions, contemporary debates and book reviews. Each publication has a different theme – such as colour, garden, public opinion, modernism etcetera.
Every summer the Association arranges restoration camps where participants from abroad are heartily welcomed. The restoration objects are for example villas, farm houses, wooden churches, palace gardens, and stone and wooden manor houses. The idea is that participants restore a house using traditional materials and methods, and learn from instructors with long experience.
The participants of the camps consist of a mix of people with various backgrounds and ages between 18 and 80. Normally there are between 6 and 10 camps every summer with a total of about 80 participants. The Association has also been engaged in camps in Estonia, Latvia, Montenegro, Albania and Zanzibar. In 2007 the Association produced a manual in english for how to run restoration camps – Guidelines for restoration camps. It is free to download if the source (Svenska Byggnadsvårdsföreningen) is stated.
The board consists of 8-12 members and a chairman. The board consists of architects, antiquarians, carpenters, building contractors and engineers. The Board members come from all over the country. Meetings are held in Stockholm every two months. The office is located in Stockholm and currently three people are employed. Financially, the association is partly supported by the state, approximately one fifth, via Riksantikvarieämbetet (The National Heritage Board), the rest is financed by member fees.
Members are mainly people involved in building preservation on a professional basis, but the number of members from the interested and dedicated general public is increasing. Today there are about 6000 members.
