The final MAR VASTO conference has been organized in the San Francisco del Barón Church in Valparaíso on September 29th, 2008, with the agreement of Chilean partners and stakeolders. In fact, this historical monument can be considered the most critical point found during all the investigation (due its critical structural conditions and the possibility of partial/total collapse in case of a medium/high earthquake) and represents surely a symbolic icon for defining Risk Assessment procedures and rehabilitation interventions.
The conference of September 29th, chaired by Arch. Sotero Apablaza (Valparaiso Municipality) and Maruzzella Giannini (ICE, Italy) has seen the participation of the following Authorities giving a welcome address:
- Father Fernando Candia, San Francisco Church;
- Mons. Gonzalo Duarte García de Cortázar, Bishop of Valparaíso;
- Dr. Ivan de la Maza Vaillet, Intendente V Región Valparaíso;
- Dr. Omar Jara Aravena, Alcalde Surrogante, Valparaíso Municipality;
- Dr. Roberto Santilli, Italian Embassy and ICE (Istituto per il Commercio Estero);
- Dr. Ana Maria Icaza, Directora PRDUV/BID Valparaíso.
Also Dr. Claudia Cárdenas, BID consultant, gave a contribution to the discussion.
All presentations are in the Final Conference section.
Furthermore, the MAR VASTO final conference has been joined by the Master Eco-Polis conclusion (September 30th, 2008, chaired by Prof. Roberto Barria of the Federico Santa Maria University of Valparaíso, with the welcome addresses by Arch. Juan Mastrantonio, Board of Architects of Valparaíso, and Arch. Paulina Kaplan Depolo, Valparaíso Municipality, Oficina de Gestion Patrimonial), just foreseen in Valparaíso in the same period (see some presentations in Appendix 3), as agreed by the Master Director, Prof. Gianfranco Franz, and the MAR VASTO coordinator, Dr. Maurizio Indirli.
The Eco-Polis International Master in environmental and regional policies for sustainability in local development is an advanced itinerant training program, organized by the Universities of Ferrara and Calabria, Italy, the Pontificia Universidade Católica de Paranà, Curitiba, Brasil, the Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina, and the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaíso, Chile, with the support of UNESCO, IILA (Istituto Italo Latino Americano) and Red Alvar.
During the conference, another important International training activity has been presented by Marco Munari of University of Padua: the Advanced Master in Structural Analysis of Monuments and Historical Constructions.
During the conference, Dr. Oscar Acuña Poblete, Secretario Ejecutivo of the Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales de Chile, representatives of several universities (University of Chile, Santiago; University Federico Santa Maria, Valparaíso; University of Valparaíso; University of Playa Ancha, etc.), private consultants, Valparaíso local communities people, and many students were present both the days (totally, more than one hundred persons).
Moreover, an exhibition of Italian technical-scientific activities on cultural heritage (Yesterday/Tomorrow: 50 years of urban conservation and innovation in Italy, sponsored by IILA, Istituto Italo Latino Americano) has been available during the final conference.
The successful result of the MAR VASTO final conference has been surely due to the support of many Chilean Oganizations, which strongly cooperated with the Italian experts during the project: Church Authorities; the Intendencia V Region Valparaíso; the Ministry of Culture (Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y Las Artes); various Offices of the Valparaíso Municipality; the Regional Civil Defense (OREMI); the SHOA (Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada de Chile); the Firemen (Bomberos) and the Sea Rescue (Bote Salvavidas) Corps of Valparaíso; the Valparaíso Italian Community and city organizations (Junta de Vecinos of the Cerro Cordillera and Gerencia Barrio Puerto, which is the historical district of the City); the Board of Architects of Valparaíso and other professionals; the Police (Carabineros de Chile).