On 11th and 12th March 2010 representatives from all 7 partner countries involved in the SECHURBA project met in Athens to discuss project progress.

MEA is the coordinating partner of the consortium, which is taking part in a 2 ½ year project looking at ways of making historic buildings more energy efficient and highlighting the role that such buildings can play towards historic urban communities' carbon reduction targets.

The meeting comes hot on the heels of a recent report published by the Heritage Lottery Fund which estimates that heritage tourism contributes £20 bn to the UK economy and has an important role to play in our economic recovery.

The first day of meetings took place at a hotel which was a mere 10 minute walk from the Acropolis where an on-going conservation project is taking place using traditional materials and techniques to preserve the Parthenon and surrounding buildings.

The Acropolis	The Parthenon

Partners were given a demonstration of the software tool that is being developed under the project to help decision makers choose what type of interventions might be allowed to be introduced into case study buildings which are mainly Listed and usually situated in Conservation Areas. Each partner country has also been compiling a database of new technologies that are emerging which can be applied to historic buildings. Information on all data so far compiled will be available for download from the partner website next month (www.sechurba.eu).

Partner Meeting	Software Demonstration

Each project partner is looking at a number of case study buildings within their communities and will produce a strategy to reduce carbon emissions from the buildings by a minimum of 40% from current situation.

Project Coordinator, Nicole Solomons, who is leading the project on behalf of MEA said: "Holding the meeting in such an historic location as Athens was the perfect setting to consider how such buildings have survived this long, and how much we can learn from the building methods and materials that were used at that time. By emulating their use of passive (non-mechanical) systems for ventilation, heating and cooling, could save us energy today."