Preventive Conservation Working Group
Triennial Programme 2008-2011

The working group will investigate, research, and report on the following themes:

A. Environment – including:
- anoxia
- biological activity
- climate
- lighting and radiations
- pollutants
o dust
o industrial pollutants
o materials used in construction
o sinks and filters

B. Risk management – including:
- methodology
- mitigation
- categorization (of collections / of risk types)
- quantification
- prediction
- dissociation (marking inventory numbers)

C. Physical forces – including:
- building sites, visitors, concerts
- handling, packing, transportation
- modelling
- shocks and vibrations

D. Materials – including:
- suitability of materials used in construction
- coatings
- pollutant sinks and filters

E. Safety and security – including:
- emergency plans
- collection retrieval
- fire, water (flood, infiltration)
- theft, vandalism

Strands within each theme include
- Sustainability
- Tools (IT models, new analysis tools etc)
- Sharing and collaboration (e.g. Cultural Heritage Advanced Research Infrastructures:
Synergy for a Multidisciplinary Approach to conservation – CHARISMA)
- Guidelines, standards, and best practice (e.g. CEN TC346 Conservation of cultural
property)

These themes will be used to aide ranking of proposed contributions to the Working Group

In addition, the group will:
- collaborate with COST IE0601, English Heritage, and the National Trust for the
organisation of “Managing Environmental Risks to Wooden Interiors and Collections in
Historic Buildings and Churches” April 27-28, 2009, in Cambridge, UK
- collaborate with COST D42 for the organisation of “Showcases Inside Out” May 24-27,
2009 at the University of Porto
- cooperate on the preparation of a book with COST D42 on showcases, to be published in
2010


Coordinator: Boris Pretzel