TheMalopolska Regional Office for HistoricPreservation has been characterized by instability over the past few years - the people in the position of Malopolska Regional Historic Preservation Officer were changed several times, which reflected on the institution's performance. Will it be different this time?
On January 26 this year, Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz and Małopolska Voivode Krzysztof Jan Klęczar handed the act of appointment to the position of Małopolska provincial conservator of monuments to Katarzyna Urbańska. The minister spoke of the "destruction"ofthe office and the need to rebuild its team, reputation and organizational culture.
[...] In my opinion and that of the Governor, this candidacy is ideal for the times we are facing. The task before Ms. Conservator is quite difficult. This is because there has been almost a destruction of the Provincial Office of Historic Preservation in Krakow. Now it's time to catch up. Monuments must be protected wisely and responsibly. I'm sure Ms. Urbanska will perfectly handle this task ," said Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz.
rotating position
The position occupied by Urbanska has been extremely unfortunate in recent years. From 2019 to 2021, it was occupied by Dr. Monika Bogdanowska. In January 2022, Dr. Dominika Dlugosz took over the position for less than a day, shortly after her appointment was revoked. It was unofficially indicated that the dismissal was to be linked to her posts on her Twitter (now X) account, where she was said to have shared content inconsistent with the political line of the former government. Dlugosz was also the author of a doctoral thesis on the adaptation of Catholic churches to new functions, which was also said to have influenced the decision to dismiss her.
The next conservator was Dr. Piotr Turkiewicz, who held the post until December 2023. He was accused of being slow on conservation permits or of making decisions too slowly.
what does the future hold?
Katarzyna Urbanska graduated from the Cracow University of Technology with a degree in architecture and completed postgraduate studies in real estate brokerage at the AGH University of Science and Technology. Importantly, she is a former employee of WUOZ, having worked there from 2006-2021. The new conservator has also worked for the Municipal Investment Board of Krakow.
Thank you for this appointment. I hope that I will live up to these requirements. I wanted to tell you that working at the Provincial Office for Historic Preservation was my first job, and I thought about it while I was already in college. During those 15 years I climbed to the position of head of the department, where I could finally show what I was really capable of. Unfortunately, it happened as it did, and at this point we are at the stage where we practically have to rebuild the office from the very beginning," says Malopolska provincial conservator Katarzyna Urbanska.
Katarzyna Urbanska has a lot of challenges ahead of her - first of all, to rebuild the team working on Krakow's Kanonicza Street, to speed up the issuance of applications, and to be not only an official court over investments, but also an active actor in the Malopolska space.
