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Background The term "Farmhouse of Hälsingland" Aims and goals Activity
Background
Hälsingegårdar as a a joint project was started in January
1997. The originator and first project leader was County Supervisor of
Ancient Buildings and Monuments, Erik Nordin, of the Gävleborg County
Administrative Board. The most important partners in the project are the
County Museum, Hälsingland Museum, the tourist organisations of Hälsingland,
the farm owners and the local Heritage Societies. The project is funded
by the County Administrative Board and the EU.
The goal of the first stage of the project was to preserve this unique building culture for the future, to initiate research and documentation, spread knowledge, and make farms accessible to visitors. The mottoes of the project were Care-Show-Know. Issues concerning the future of the farms have been given more weight during later stages of the project. The motto of this work is Develop.
At the start of the project, a register of farms was drawn up containing a couple of hundred of culturally interesting farmhouses of Hälsingland. The "show farms" presented on the home pages under the headline Farms to Visit were selected from this register. Roughly a further ten farms have since been selected for guided farm tours. At the beginning of 1999, the Hälsingegårdar project was re-organised, with a new steering group and new co-workers.
The farmhouses of Hälsingland have been largely unknown and unexplored, as is the unusually large reserve of untouched, preserved cultural heritage and vital traditions. The farmhouses of Hälsingland are a resource for the future, an asset to the province and its people. They are the bearers of identity and sources of inspiration for future generations, for restorers of buildings, for designers, artists and artisans, and a resource of great importance in a growing tourist industry.
The term "Farmhouse of Hälsingland"
The farmhouses of Hälsingland reflect the popular culture which became
established in Hälsingland over the course of several centuries. This
culture had its heyday from the late 18th century until the early 20th
century. The large, often linked, red-painted houses with their stylish
architecture and decoration are the most obvious physical evidence of
this culture, which grew out of the riches provided by, above all, flax
and the forest. In its broader sense, the term "farmhouses of Hälsingland"
includes everything which belongs on a farm.
The
Hälsingegårdar project makes use of this wide interpretation. The work
emphasises the whole as a sum of its parts. The project's main focus ,
however, is on the physical environment of the farms.
Aims and goals
With its starting point in the farms and the farm-owners, the project
aims to highlight the unique culture of Hälsingland, in order to value,
preserve and develop it into a positive force for regional growth, in
the society of today and tomorrow.
The aims of the project
- To reinforce and spread a broad understanding of the term "Farmhouses of Hälsingland"
- To increase and develop the work of caring for the environments, buildings, interiors and inventory of the farms
- To increase knowledge of the culture of Hälsingland in a historic, modern and future perspective
- To make the Hälsingland farms and their culture accessible to the public
- To develop means and models of commercial tourist activity at the farms
- To contribute to the development of the culture of the Hälsingland farms into an active and creative part of countryside living now and in the future
- To get the Hälsingland farms valued in a European perspective and from that of the UNESCO World Heritage List
- To find means of continuing the work after the end of the programme period
Activity
The work of the Hälsingegårdarna project is development work consisting
of finding show farms, obtaining knowledge and information about the farms,
guides, joint marketing and development of the farms. It is about inventorying
and restoring farms, and advising farm-owners. It is about finding new
knowledge and research and making existing knowledge more widely known.
It is also about finding new opportunities for development of the farms.
The project spreads information through newsletters, brochures and this
home page. The project works horizontally at a local level. The national
and international work is oriented towards special groups and skills.
Both within and outside the country, a good deal of information work is
done via the mass media, participation in fairs, conferences, lectures
and so on.