Partners

• ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property)
• Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
• Archaeological Superintendence of Ostia Antica
• Istituto Centrale del Restauro (ICR)
• European Tour Operators Association
• European Commission (sponsor)

Participants
Visitors to an archaeological site or museum. Tour guides are encouraged to highlight conservation issues whenever the opportunity arises. This project was developed for the general public and can be adapted for other specific target groups such as school children.

Aim

• To make people aware of basic conservation problems, even in museums and at managed sites;
• to open the work of conservation to the public, sharing the kinds of tasks conservation involves, how much they cost, how long they take, and so on.

Project description
In 1997, the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) launched a Europe-wide public awareness project titled 'Let’s Save Our Heritage Together', involving museums from several different European countries. ICCROM developed the tour project at Ostia Antica for European Heritage Day in 1997 as part of ULB’s project. The tour project was repeated for ten weeks over the summer of 1998.

Main achievements
While ICCROM participated only at Ostia Antica, other organizations participated in 'Let’s Save Our Heritage Together' throughout Europe. A wide variety of projects were undertaken to highlight conservation problems in museums, such as light, humidity, insects, etc.

• Experts created a self-guided tour of eight stops at Ostia Antica. Each stop focused on a different conservation problem, including mosaic restoration and maintenance, over-grown vegetation (roots damaging mosaics and walls), building erosion due to naturally occurring salts, and so on;
• a leaflet to accompany the tour and provide detailed information was printed in English, Italian, and French;
• a training course for tour guides
• twenty-four guided visits;
• visitors filled out 4,500 questionnaires, with the following results:
  • 90% would recommend the tour to a friend wanting to visit the site;
  • 86% agreed that visitors can contribute to heritage protection;
  • 84% appreciated the information on conservation issues;
  • 79% wanted to receive this kind of information regularly;
  • 79% agreed that cultural heritage preservation concerns all of us;
  • 32% understood the fragility of heritage for the first time after following the tour.
• Public and the Safeguard of Heritage was published as a reference tool for conservators, site managers, and tourists. It included experiences of all cultural institutions taking part in the larger project.

updated on: 8 August, 2006