We have been working on the restoration and revitalisation of the Bánffy Castle in Bonțida since 2000, during which time several stages of the restoration have been completed. In 2025, we primarily focused on our Built Heritage Conservation Training and the ongoing restoration of certain buildings. Among the major renovation projects launched in 2024, the work aimed at the rescue of the Coach House was completed in 2025, and we put it into use as a training workshop this spring. Meanwhile, the restoration works on the Stable Building are also nearing completion, and this space will shortly await visitors. Work has also restarted in the Miklós Building. After the completion of the conference room, offices, and accommodation unit renovations; it will continue to function as one of the permanent locations for our vocational training programme.

Our Built Heritage Conservation Training, organised every summer for 24 years, also took place, aiming to preserve, pass on, and use the knowledge related to traditional building crafts. In 2025, participants came from many countries for the training, which was held in the form of two camps and was also extended with an online course. The latter became available in November.

Our Training and Professional Development Programme in Built Heritage Conservation and Rehabilitation also continued, which we organise in partnership with the Babeș-Bolyai University. This autumn, the second year started with 30 students, and another year is set to launch in the autumn of 2026.

In Torockó (Rimetea), we have been running The Rimetea Heritage Conservation Project since 1996 (link: https://www.transylvaniatrust.ro/hu/program/torocko-ertekvedo-program/), as a result of which the village has become one of Transylvania’s jewels and a prime destination for cultural tourism.

We held a Heritage Day at the castle in February. Pupils from the Kallós Zoltán Foundation’s boarding house for children from the diaspora had the opportunity to learn about the castle’s history through games.

In the spring, we organised the Built Heritage: How It Can Become a Unique Experience 2.0 professional training, which targeted those interested in being a tour guide or interpreter in two locations: Bonchida (Bontida) and Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár). Twenty students participated, who expanded their knowledge on tour guide branding, methods of experience-based knowledge transfer, and handling potential conflicts. The workshops were led by Ilka Zsigmond and Dávid Sipos. The programme also included a field exercise which took place in the Saint Michael’s Church. Following this, the programme continued at the House of Religious Freedom, where Árpád Furu’s theoretical and practical presentation concluded the training.

In May, within the framework of the regular Open Day at Bánffy Castle programme, interested parties had the opportunity to see the progress in the renovation works and the castle’s history through various cultural and playful activities. We commemorated Countess Katalin Bánffy, who passed away this year, with a portrait film by Judit Spitzer and a discussion about her life.

We are also part of the CAST – Culture trAnSforming communiTies and economies project, which began this year and brings together 14 project partners and pilot locations from the Danube Region. We met with the partners at the Kick-off Partner Meeting in Višnja Gora, Slovenia, in June.

We also held our summer camp for children, titled Heritage under the Magnifying Glass, aimed at raising children’s awareness of the importance of preserving our built heritage in a playful manner. They could also explore various fields of science, participate in craft activities, and try their hand at archery and playful fencing.

In August, the opening of the Roots and Routes exhibition, realised within the framework of the CO-VISION project, took place. It explored the relationship between man and nature, focusing on the local role of the Someșul Mic river through digital installations built on local narratives and created during a joint creative process. In connection with the project, we invited László Albert Barabási, whose lecture to a full house titled Hidden Patterns: The Visual Language of Networks, organised within the 16th Hungarian Cultural Days of Cluj, was attended by over 800 people.

In September, we once again held Bánffy Day at the Bánffy Castle in Bonchida (Bontida). The programme welcomed the interested public with guided tours in Hungarian and Romanian, children’s programmes, and cultural activities. The focus was on the history of the castle and the family, showcasing the restoration processes and a new permanent exhibition titled The Last Countess of Bonchida: Katalin Bánffy.

We were also pleased to participate in the ERASMUS+ Heritage Leaders and Volunteers IV project, the third and final seminar of which took place in October in Paris and its surroundings, in the Île-de-France region. REMPART gathered its European partners, thus proving that heritage is a common cause for all of us, as well as a catalyst for cooperation and experience exchange.

The EcoArt Workshop – Interdisciplinary, Participatory, Innovative Dialogue 2.0 took place in early November, successfully connecting built heritage with contemporary art approaches. The aforementioned CO-VISION project provided the framework for the workshop.

We were also part of the international cooperation programme running under the title KAMA-MÉTA-Network 2.0 – Community and Folk Team Games, 2023-2025, at the invitation of the Zöld Meteor Kama Physical Exercise and Hiking Association. The main goal of the project is the preservation, popularisation, and practice of team games. The programme consisted of a series of workshops and sports events focusing on the collection, publication, and popularisation of forgotten or marginalised folk games (such as méta and kama) and less-known team sports. The ERASMUS SPORT SMALL COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM provided the background for the project.

The annual operating costs of the Foundation were supported by the Bethlen Gábor Fund Management Zrt.