Meeting on reducing risks to cultural heritage

"Reducing Risks to Cultural Heritage"
International Meeting 2012
Amersfoort, the Netherlands
28-30 November 2012

Organizing Partners:

    Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE)
    (RCE Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands)
    <URL:http://www.cultureelerfgoed.nl>

    ICCROM International Centre for the Study of the Preservation
    and Restoration of Cultural Property
    <URL:http://www.iccrom.org>

    CCI-ICC Canadian Conservation Institute
    <URL:http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca>

Registration and abstracts

Since 2005 ICCROM, CCI and RCE (formerly ICN) have worked on
developing and disseminating the risk management approach for
cultural heritage and have organized six joint courses. The most
recent course included, for the first time, a substantial
distance-learning component to enable participants to apply the risk
management approach in their own working and cultural context. The
method and tools that have been developed for the course proved to
be applicable for all types of heritage, ranging from single wall
painting and large collections to historic buildings and
archaeological sites. At the end of this year the successful
cooperation will be concluded with a meeting in which the
experiences and gained knowledge from all these years will be shared
among former course participants and with anyone else interested in
risk management.

Background: Today, preventive conservation is widely recognized as a
priority line of action. However, decision-makers are confronted
with difficult choices in planning conservation strategies with
limited resources. Should we put all our resources in a
sophisticated environmental control system, or should we upgrade the
fire control system instead? What exactly will happen to this
collection of costumes and basketry if they remain exposed to this
level of light? And in the long term, how will this damage compare
to that caused by the increasing number of visitors? The risk
management approach, which informs and guides decision makers in
many other fields, offers a sound methodology to incorporate the
most recent knowledge into current practice. It allows an integrated
view of all expected damages and loss to cultural property, and of
their mitigation, thus providing a useful tool for the design of
more efficient conservation strategies.

The aim of the meeting is to synthesize and share knowledge and
experience with former participants of the ICCROM-CCI-RCE
international courses and exchange it with others who are interested
in risk management. The meeting aims to consolidate and expand the
risk network and explore new directions for the future. The
three-day program will contain presentations, discussions, and
social activities. The program will be made available by summer.

The meeting will take place at the head office of the Cultural
Heritage Agency of the Netherlands in Amersfoort. The building which
houses the Ministry of Culture's centre of expertise and support for
preservation and management of moveable, built, archeological and
landscape heritage in the Netherlands is a showpiece of modern
architecture in a historic setting. Amersfoort has a historic centre
which still shows the Medieval pattern of streets and squares. A
string of unique houses called 'Muurhuizen' is part of the heart
shaped inner city. With over 380 monuments, from remarkable churches
and museums to city walls and gates, it is the city with the highest
number of monuments in the Netherlands. Various museums, galleries
and other places of interest offer culture lovers lots of
possibilities to enjoy themselves. See

    <URL:http://www.visitamersfoort.com>

Registration and Abstract Submission: You are invited to register
for the meeting. There is a limited number of seats available and
acceptance will be done on a first come, first serve basis. The
registration fee of 300 Euro includes a book of extended abstracts,
coffee, tea, lunch each day and dinner on Thursday. For former
participants of the ICCROM-CCI-ICN/RCE 'Reducing Risks' courses, the
fee is 150 Euro. Details for payment will be made available later.
To register and submit 150 word abstracts in English, please use the
following registration/abstract submission form

    <URL:http://fd7.formdesk.com/archis/reducing_risks>

Deadline for submission is 30 June 2012. The organizing partners may
take a selection or give suggestions before final acceptance in the
program. For questions about the abstracts, you can contact Bart
Ankersmit at b.amkersmit<-at->cultureelerfgoed<.>nl.

Travel Grants: Former participants of the 'Reducing Risks' courses
can apply for an ICCROM grant. Contact iv<-at->iccrom<.>org for details.

Travel and Accommodation: Participants will need to make their own
arrangements for travel, visas and accommodation. Amersfoort can
easily be reached from the international airport Amsterdam Schiphol
by train in 35 minutes (second class single ticket Euro10,00).
Amersfoort offers a variety of hotels with rooms for two at
Euro100-150 per night. A list of hotels will be made available soon.

Isabelle Verger
Collections Unit
ICCROM - Via di San Michele, 13
00153 Rome
+39 06 58 55 34 10
Fax: +39 06 58 55 33 49


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:45
                   Distributed: Sunday, April 8, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-25-45-008
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