New Perspectives for the Sustainable Conservation of Cultural Heritage

Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, bio-technological applications and a large range of conservation materials with multiple properties in terms of stability, setting, strength, adhesion and coating have been developed. Simultaneously, recommendations regarding environmental conservation, the performance of buildings and preventive conservation standards have developed in the last 30 years. Research on management, exhibition, storage and transport has delivered results that are adapted to specific contexts (even recently, with the caring for heritage collections during the COVID-19 pandemic).

However, since the publication of the sixth assessment report in August 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has painted a dire picture of the future, indicating that "recent climate changes are widespread, rapid and increasingly pronounced, and are unprecedented in thousands of years". Climate change is exerting a growing and lasting impact on our environment and society, and cultural heritage is not being spared. With warmer, drier summers and hotter, wetter winters, in addition to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events and rising sea levels, tangible and intangible assets are exposed to new risks, and their vulnerability is enhanced significantly. How are these impacts reflected in problems regarding our heritage? How can heritage contribute positively to this new paradigm by inventing new methods of conservation? The ICOM-CC resolution, ICOMOS recommendation and UNESCO strategy on cultural heritage address these issues. They aim to guide and support management decisions regarding artefacts, structures and spaces. Methodologies and materials related to conversation that have a low impact on the environment and do not threaten health are in growing demand, in accordance with climate and environmental concerns, natural risks and subsequent tensions. This balance in terms of conservation efficiency, durability and the effect on the health of the public and environment is a major concern. Bio-sourced products, conservation protocols that employ recycled, recovered materials and waste reduction may become essential to conservation in a rapidly changing and increasingly global world. Moreover, an understanding of the impact of conservation practices and treatments on resources will enable the presentation of valuable insights into the maintenance of heritage over time. 

All of these topics will be gathered in a Special Issue entitled ‘New Perspectives for the Sustainable Conservation of Cultural Heritage', to be published in Heritage in 2025.

The scope of this Special Issue includes the following themes:

• Preventive conservation, lifecycle analysis, targeted interventions, low-carbon and passive solutions, bio-sourced materials, and the re-evaluation of conservation standards.
• Restoration and curing.
• Act/acting/actors.
• Crossover between heritage and sustainable ecology, i.e., the establishment of a reciprocal relationship between cultural heritage and its environment.
• Culture/mitigation/ resource platform and support.
• Integrating conservation with contingency stakes (tourism, mobility of public, access, economy, social and cultural aspects, biodiversity …)/ acceptability.

The submission of exploratory, in-progress or mature research that provides a comprehensive overview of the topic under study is welcome. Therefore, this research may have been performed at different scales, and at local, regional or higher levels.

Case studies that present short- or long-term research and the monitoring of cultural heritage will be appreciated, in addition to articles that consider the various stages of conservation work and integrate material life-cycle assessments.

Reflections on innovative technology and traditional or native practices, impact measurement, cost, consumption, our carbon footprint or the short-circuit approach are also encouraged.

Concerned subjects: artefacts, buildings, natural or archaeological sites, and intangible heritage.

Dr. Anne Solenn Le Hô
Dr. Ann Bourgès
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• sustainability
• conservation
• restoration
• environment
• cultural heritage
• materials
• practices
• resources