8 June. ICCROM and its partners explore distance learning with the 6th session of the International Course on Preventive Conservation: Reducing Risks to Cultural Heritage.

Each heritage asset brings its own share of challenges depending on its nature, specific context, stakeholders, history, and risks. This year, ICCROM, the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) and the Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE) decided to build upon their successful training experience and collaboration in the field of risk management, and bring the course to heritage conservation professionals, wherever they work and live.
           
As a result, the RISK 2011 brings together a rich network of 30 participants from all over the world. They are conservators, architects, archeologists and archive or collection managers. The course will continue until November 2011 and during this time, each participant will undertake a specific risk management project which will contribute to the preservation of their heritage assets. The course will also facilitate the dissemination and improvement of the risk management methodology, which has been under development since 2005.

Discover the list of participants and their case studies that range from collections of objects to entire sites. These illustrate the diversity of issues to be shared and addressed during the next six months. The teaching team is mainly composed of conservation scientists and conservators, but also includes an architect and an education specialist. Five participants from former courses were also invited to join the team as observers. The course also benefits from the exceptional support of the Central Institute for Conservation in Belgrade and of the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul.

A web environment functions as the ‘classroom’, with different spaces for discussion for the whole class or members of the six study groups. The web space allows participants to post photos, view videos, chat in real time, email fellow participants and staff, and download and comment on assignments and exercises. The design tool that was selected is a social networking platform that is both inexpensive and easy to navigate. This low cost approach will allow participants to reproduce the experience themselves if they wish.    

During this first month, participants will build their familiarity with the web platform while learning the fundamental ideas and terminology of risk management. They will be introduced to the five steps of risk management that structure the method and our course. For the first step entitled, Establish Context, we have asked participants to participate in a discussion about their own case studies called "Reasons for Doing My Risk Assessment". Next they will identify the risks in their case study using various tools that encourage comprehensive identification, and that form part of the method.

Although this distance-learning approach is new to most of the participants and teachers, positive feedback has already been received. Participants and teachers have connected with each other, introducing themselves and their institutions, and have begun to share their risk issues. More information on how this experience develops and process unfolds will be posted on the ICCROM website each month. For more information and if you have any questions write us at risk2011(at)iccrom.org.

Member States represented: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, Yemen

updated on: 9 June, 2011