The Campaign for Historic Trades is excited to announce a partnership with El Centro de Conservación y Restauración de Puerto Rico [CENCOR – Center for Conservation and Restoration of Puerto Rico]. The project is in part funded by the Historic Preservation Education Foundation (HPEF) Partners in Training Grant, and the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) Holly Maxson Conservation Grant .
The HPEF Partners in Training provided $12,000 to translate historic trades training videos into Spanish language. The FAIC awarded $16,000 to develop bilingual historic trades training resources for K – 12 students. Beginning in the fall of 2022 and throughout 2023, Preservation Maryland will host these resources in an online learning platform. They will be free, open educational resources for public use and access, under a Creative Common license.
The Spanish translations and development will be overseen by architectural conservator Héctor J. Berdecía-Hernández, Director-General of CENCOR. The Centro de Conservación y Restauración de Puerto Rico is a newly-founded, private non-profit institution dedicated to promoting the preservation of cultural heritage through education and training, scientific research, technical preservation services, publications and community outreach projects in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean region.
Click to learn more about CENCOR
The United States has the second largest population of Spanish speakers in the world, with over 41 million native Spanish speakers. About half of those speakers (or 8% of the US population) have limited-English proficiency. The number of US-based Spanish speakers is expected to triple by the year 2050. Considering Puerto Rico records over 30,000 people working in construction, and that nearly one third of construction workers identify as Hispanic and/or Latinx, bilingual training resources are the only way to move forward in curriculum development.
We’re grateful that the HPEF and FAIC recognize the importance of creating accessible learning materials. The Campaign hopes these projects will resonate in the preservation and construction communities and set the standard to make all training resources available in English and Spanish.
Read more about the supporting foundations:
The Historic Preservation Education Fund supports preservation education through projects and partnerships. For over thirty-five years HPEF has been a leading provider of historic preservation knowledge for architectural conservators and architects, tradespeople, building owners, students, and all those who care for and care about historic buildings. HPEF’s Partners in Training program furthers its mission of providing training opportunities on technical topics associated with preservation technology.
The Foundation for Advancement in Conservation’s mission is to save cultural heritage for future generations, protecting it from decay and destruction. They advance research and education, lead treatment and collection care initiatives, and deploy conservation expertise to where it is most urgently needed. Our work empowers conservation professionals, strengthens cultural institutions, and engages stakeholders, including public audiences, as we work together to protect cultural heritage for humanity.