24 August. The 2007 ICCROM Forum on 'Privatisation and cultural heritage' is now only three weeks away.

The Forum aims to advance the dialogue on the 'economy of heritage' between the public and private sectors. ICCROM hopes to stimulate joint initiatives and connect partners from these sectors, as well as academic and financial institutions.

Two initiatives in which ICCROM has been involved in these past months have been important for the development of the Forum programme. The first was the International Seminar on 'Public- Private Partnerships in the Management of Cultural Heritage Assets - a European Challenge'; held in June 2007 in collaboration with the Rathgen Laboratory of the National Museums in Berlin. The seminar, first suggested to ICCROM by Dr Stefan Simon, member of ICCROM Council, focused on the relationship between public and private partnerships with special reference to the European reality. It provided an opportunity to discuss the ICCROM Forum with colleagues and experts from partner institutions such as Mr Tim Whalen, Director of the Getty Conservation Institute, and Prof Stefano Baia Curioni, Director of the Art, Science and Knowledge Centre of the Bocconi University. The second activity, held in Rome in April 2007, was a meeting of Latin American experts which highlighted the interest in the topic of the ICCROM Forum and its relevance to the region.

Guests and speakers at the Forum will include Mr Blaine Cliver, President of ICCROM's Council, whose presence reflects the importance ICCROM attaches to the event; representatives from financial institutions such as the Fondazione San Paolo di Torino, the Fondazione Banco di Sicilia, the World Bank, and the Interamerican Development Bank; research organizations such as the Getty Conservation Institute and the Bocconi Business University; and local national institutions such as the the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.

Acknowledgements
The theme of the forum has been developed in discussion with many individuals. The Director-General would like to express his appreciation to all those who have contributed to this process and, in particular to: Nicola Leanza, Counselor of the Cultural and Environmental Heritage and Public Education of the Regional Administration of Sicily; Prof Giovanni Puglisi, President of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO; Katriina Simila, Aparna Tandon and Jérôme Nhan from ICCROM, who have provided valuable inputs to the Forum Coordination Team (Mounir Bouchenaki, Maria Teresa Jaquinta, Kerstin Stamm); Dr Ray Bondin, ICCROM Council Member, for the time and expertise that he has devoted to this project; and Dr Nicholas P. Stanley-Price, former Director-General of ICCROM, for his far-sightedness in identifying and proposing the Forum theme for the biennium 2006-2007.

updated on: 24 November, 2007