Rethinking preventive conservation: Recent examples

Abstract

The past few decades have seen an increasing awareness of the potential socio-economical and environmental impact of investment in Cultural Heritage (CH). Preserving CH is not only an obligation to sustain and transmit it to the future generation but is also a driver of sustainable growth. Here, recently concluded projects are taken in consideration for a reflective thinking on preventive conservation, as the only viable strategy towards a sustainable and cost-effective management of CH, to face unprecedented challenges posed by increasing natural and man-made threats. Here, the main open issues for a widespread implementation of preventive conservation are identified, moreover, standardised, integrated good practices, validated over significant case studies, are presented within a multi-level replicable framework.