Ordinary professor of human science, Head of the Department of Economic and Social History, and the UNESCO Chair for Heritage and Urban Studies at the Krakow University of Economics, as well as the Jagiellonian University’s European Heritage Department. His areas of research include urban development, the social history of art in the 19th and 20th centuries, and heritage preservation theory and practice. He is the author of more than 300 academic works, including many books. Mr Purchla was the Deputy Mayor of Krakow between 1990 and 1991, and since 1991 he has been the organiser and director of the International Cultural Centre in Krakow, as well as the editor-in-chief of “Herito”.