Dariusz Borkowski met with Agata Wąsowska-Pawlik, director of the ICC, and Ewa Wojtoń from the ICC’s Institute of European Heritage, to discuss potential future collaboration and the possibility of presenting the Ruiners’ activities to a wider European audience, for example through Europa Nostra’s initiatives. He also familiarised himself with our latest projects and current activities and toured the ICC headquarters. He also outlined the Ruiners’ activities in Lower Silesia and the group’s plans for the near future to the ICC representative.

The Ruiners’ grassroots social movement was the winner of last year’s (2025) Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Award in the field of Heritage Protection. It arose spontaneously, bringing together owners of old houses in the Sudeten region. The Ruiners restore them using private funds, but with an eye to tradition and history, striving to recreate old craft techniques. Western Poland is unique in this respect, as it has long been underfunded due to its complex history. 

The Ruiners’ activities have now expanded beyond the region and the province, and initiatives by members of this movement can now be found in both Pomerania and Greater Poland. For the past three years, the Foundation has been organising “Ruiners’ Meetings”, where participants can learn about traditional renovation techniques, exchange experiences, meet up and discuss architecture and its regeneration.