Industrial heritage comes from a period of history when the step from the proto-industrial phase to industrialisation produced changes at all levels: social, technical, economic and artistic, which generated new concepts and new parameters. Time was no longer the same, nor were working relations; production and the economy, leisure and free time, everything changed.
The industrial world, the world of guilds and the artisan world suffered a sudden transformation with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution; cities were transformed by expansion, many of the workshops and small to medium-sized industrial buildings on the outskirts of towns and cities suddenly found themselves inside the new urban limits.

Industrialisation came later to Catalonia in comparison with the rest of Europe, such as the UK and France, who experienced the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century.

The introduction of new industries and new technologies revolutionised the world of work and communications. Traditional transport networks soon became obsolete and new infrastructure was needed. Cities like Terrassa, Sabadell , Manresa , and Igualada, manufacturing centres, expanded their railway lines and built roads to be able to reach distribution centres for their products, like the port of Barcelona.
From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and, as a consequence of it, industrial spaces multiplied, large manufacturing factories and new machines were built, events that turned concepts of society-work and production-economy on their head.
Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, we have an extensive industrial heritage, a heritage that comes from industry. In some cases these industrial witnesses have disappeared and in others they have resisted the tempests of speculation, the neglect of politicians, disinformation and oblivion, whether with regard to the heritage of objects, of real estate or of documents, sometimes terribly damaged.
It is here that civil society has an obligation and a role to play as the intermediary for this heritage: historians, researchers, associations, neighbours associations, former workers, unions, groups that revolve around the area of industrial heritage whose role is to study, recover, denounce, protect and spread information about this heritage of the industrial world, the memory of work and technology in constant evolution.

The present is the footprint of the past that must be respected and communicated

Lately, associations dedicated to the study and/or preservation of industrial heritage have blossomed all over the world. This increase and the sector's dynamism is a visible testimony to its position at the very heart of the population, something which gives hope for the continuity of a still youthful sector combining scientific knowledge and dynamic heritage.
There are different types of associations; the regional ones acting in areas where various groups have organised themselves, adapting themselves to opportunities and specific, local circumstances in order to defend industrial heritage in general or, in certain specific cases, forming eco-museums. Associations organised along national, thematic and sectorial lines such as electricity, communications, textiles, etc…
International associations such as TICCIH (The International Committee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage) acting at a worldwide level. E-FAITH (European Federation of Associations of Industrial and Technical Heritage) at a European level.
AMCTAIC (Catalan Museum of Science, Technology and Industrial Archaeology Association).
Groupe d'Històire des Mines et de la Métallurgie (The History of Mines and Metallurgy Group), based in Paris.
Association Française pour l'Étude et la Protection du Patrimoine des Industries de la Chaux et du Ciment (The French Association for the Study and Protection of the Industrial Heritage of the Lime and Cement Industry).
CILAC (Comité d'Information et de Liaison pour l'Archéologie, l'Étude et la Mise en Valeur du Patrimoine Industriel) in France.
AIA (Association for Industrial Archaeology), from the UK.
In Europe and the rest of the world there are many associations, some local and some national.

So conferences, meetings and symposiums are necessary for exchanging information and highlighting the state of the issue and the work being carried out.
All these movements provide a connection between civil society and public powers, associations, dialogue and consensus groups in order to carry out the recovery of this so misunderstood and neglected heritage.