Viola Paola
Graduated in Conservation of Cultural and Environmental Heritage, she continued her training with Masters related to ornamental green. Since 2000 she has been working at the Royal Palace of Caserta – Ministry of Culture – where she is the contact person for the technical-scientific activities relating to the care and enhancement of the Gardens of the Royal Palace. She deals with the Monumental Trees and the ancient botanical collections present in the Park and in the English Garden. Tutor for educational projects on historic greenery, she also deals with the recognition of the documents of the Historical Archive relating to the creation and transformation of the Park and the ancient catalogues of plant species introduced and cultivated in the Park and in the Botanical Garden of the English Garden. She collaborates on projects and construction sites for the restoration and recovery of monumental greenery, and she is the contact person for the main national and international associations of historic gardens. Organizational contact person for scientific initiatives and exhibitions aimed at getting to know the gardens. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Bologna. She has produced scientific publications, articles in specialist journals and she has participated in study days and conferences on the theme of ornamental greenery and historic gardens.
Roman Marcinek
A historian and archivist. Since 1992, he has worked continuously at the Krakow branch of the Center for the Documentation of Monuments (and later its successive institutional iterations). From 2000 to 2007, he served as the director of this institution. He specializes in issues related to the history and preservation of monuments and cultural landscapes. He has devoted much attention to the documentation and monitoring of Monuments of History, Cultural Parks, and sites of particular significance to heritage. Over the years, he has developed methodologies for historical studies of landscape complexes and historic parks (including Wilanów, Krzyżtopór, Mogilany, Krasiczyn, Bielany, Tyniec). For his work, he has been honored with the Gold Badge for the Protection of Monuments, the Gloria Artis medals, the Silver Cross of Merit, and the Gerard Ciołek Award.
Alexandru Mexi
PhD, landscape architect, researcher at the National Institute of Heritage – Department of World Heritage (Romania) and assistant professor at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest – Department of Landscape Architecture
Alexandru Mexi is a landscape architect, master and PhD in cultural studies. He is employed as researcher at the Department of World Heritage within the National Institute of Heritage in Romania and holds the position of associate professor at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest – Department of Landscape Architecture. At the university, he imparts knowledge on garden and landscape history, conservation, restoration, management, and enhancement. He is also a certified specialist by the Romanian Ministry of Culture in the field of preservation of historic monuments and cultural landscapes.
Over the years, Alexandru Mexi has contributed to national and international cultural and research projects focused on historic gardens and cultural landscapes. He has also developed projects for the conservation, restoration, management, monitoring, and/or enhancement of historic listed public parks and private gardens, cultural landscapes, as well as UNESCO World Heritage sites in Romania. In 2019 he has initiated the first garden restoration summer school in Romania (at the Cantacuzino Domain at Florești, Prahova county), an annual interdisciplinary program dedicated exclusively to garden heritage.
In 2017, he authored a book on the royal gardens and cultural landscape at Sinaia, which is anticipated to be included this year in the Romanian World Heritage Tentative List. He has also published scientific papers and chapters in collective volumes on landscape architecture, historic gardens, and cultural landscapes, both domestically and internationally.
Active in professional organizations and NGOs related to cultural heritage, landscape, and environment, Alexandru Mexi is a member of bodies such as ICOMOS Romania and the Romanian Landscape Architect’s Association. He also serves in the Executive Committee of the European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools since 2018.
Zbigniew Myczkowski
Prof. Dr. Hab. Eng. Arch. Zbigniew Myczkowski has been employed at the Institute, now the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Cracow University of Technology, since 1979. He is the author and co-author of over 150 publications on landscape protection and shaping, as well as over 200 studies, projects, implementations, and expert opinions. He has supervised over 250 diploma theses and 12 doctoral dissertations. For his contributions to the field of landscape protection and shaping, he has been awarded, among others, the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Gloria Artis Medal – Merit to Culture, the SKZ Gerard Ciołek Award for his contributions to cultural landscapes and for promoting this issue both domestically and internationally, and the Honorary Badge for Merit in Environmental Protection and Water Management. He has been a member of the State Council for Nature Conservation (2002-2023), the Council for the Protection of Monuments at the Ministry of Culture (2004–2007 and from 2016–2025 as Deputy Chair), the Main Conservation Commission at the General Monument Conservator (2012-2016 and from 2017), and the Scientific Councils of National Parks: Tatra (since 1992), and Magura (since 2019). He has also been a member of the Supervisory Board of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (several times between 2015-2023). He is the lead author of the protection plan for the Old Town Cultural Park in Krakow (with K. Wielgus and team, 2011/13) – awarded the Krakow City Award in the field of Science and Technology in 2013. Since March 2019, he has served as Deputy Chair of the National Environmental Impact Assessment Commission, and since 2022, he has been a member of the Social Committee for the Restoration of Krakow Monuments by appointment of the President of Poland.