17 December. The three-week course on 'Preventive conservation: reducing risks to cultural heritage' concluded in Quito. This intensive hands-on course focused on integrated risk management applied to both collections and heritage sites.

This first international course in Spanish marked the beginning of a series of training activities in the framework of ICCROM´s LATAM programme for the conservation of cultural heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will be the basis for the development of future courses tailored for specific needs, strengths, opportunities and threats related to cultural heritage in the region. 

During the last week of the course, participants analyzed and developed strategies to face and reduce risks at the Convent of San Diego in a cost-effective way. They also communicated these results to the local decision makers.

A practical session on emergency risk preparedness and immediate response allowed participants to experience and reflect on the both disasters and long-term risks. They also studied the need to develop prioritized strategies.

Participants applied the concepts and tools learned to specific conservation decision problems in various contexts, including an archaeological site, the National Archives, a historic house, and a city block in the historic centre of Quito.

The course concluded with an evaluation by participants and an analysis of possible initiatives that could be implemented in their own professional contexts.

In the future, the conservation professionals who participated in the course will significantly contribute to two of the goals of the LATAM programme:

• strengthen the international community of practice on risk management for cultural heritage
• reinforce the professional network in the Latin American and the Caribbean region.

The course was jointly organized by the Ministerio Coordinador de Patrimonio Natural y Cultural, Ecuador; the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar (UASB), Ecuador; and ICCROM, in collaboration with the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), Canada; The Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), Netherlands; the Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultura (INPC), Ecuador; the Universidad Externado de Colombia, Colombia; the Secretaria Nacional de Gestion de Riesgos, Ecuador; and the Agencia Ecuatoriana de Cooperación Internacional (AGECI), Ecuador.

Member States represented: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Spain, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela

updated on: 25 July, 2010