3 March

• Communnity-based intangible cultural heritage inventorying capacity-building workshop. Maseru (United Kingdom)
  The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage aims at safeguarding living heritage. Unlike tangible heritage that is conventionally managed by heritage experts (e.g., architects, archaeologists, and conservators), intangible cultural heritage requires a participatory approach to safeguarding involving various stakeholders, most important of whom are the communities concerned. Among the obligations of States Parties to the Convention, the one that is expressed in the strongest language is the duty to elaborate one or more inventories of the intangible heritage present on their territories with the participation of the communities concerned. An effective strategy to ensure the active participation of communities in the implementation of the Convention is to have them inventory their own heritage.
  More information: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=EN&meeting_id=00126#meet_00126

• “Recording and safeguarding the intangible”: third RMSU training module. Palermo, Italy
  Oral history, transmission of traditional know-how: what exactly intangible heritage is about and how to identify it properly? Addressed to EH 4 projects partners working on intangible heritage, participants will be trained to tools and methods for the good management and valorisation of this huge Mediterranean value.
  More information: http://www.euromedheritage.net/intern.cfm?menuID=9&submenuID=7&idnews=300

• Heritage in Haiti: Assessing the Damage
  While saving lives and providing humanitarian relief remains the absolute priority of the international community in helping Haiti deal with the devastation of the earthquake, information is beginning to arrive about the state of the country’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers, an early 19th century complex in the north of the country, which includes the ruins of a royal palace and the largest fortress of the western hemisphere, appears to have been largely spared by the quake.
  More information: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=40315&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

• Symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by Iberian Neandertals
  Two sites of the Neandertal-associated Middle Paleolithic of Iberia, dated to as early as approximately 50,000 years ago, yielded perforated and pigment-stained marine shells. At Cueva de los Aviones, three umbo-perforated valves of Acanthocardia and Glycymeris were found alongside lumps of yellow and red colorants, and residues preserved inside a Spondylus shell consist of a red lepidocrocite base mixed with ground, dark red-to-black fragments of hematite and pyrite. A perforated Pecten shell, painted on its external, white side with an orange mix of goethite and hematite, was abandoned after breakage at Cueva Antón, 60 km inland. Comparable early modern human-associated material from Africa and the Near East is widely accepted as evidence for body ornamentation, implying behavioral modernity. The Iberian finds show that European Neandertals were no different from coeval Africans in this regard, countering genetic/cognitive explanations for the emergence of symbolism and strengthening demographic/social ones.
  More information: http://www.pnas.org/content/107/3/1023

• Euromed Heritage targets students to raise awareness about heritage protection - Elaich dissemination meeting. Athens - February 2010
  The EU-funded Euromed Heritage IV, through one of its 12 projects Elaich, is seeking to increase awareness of cultural heritage and its conservation by preparing an educational tool addressed at high school students, which will be evaluated and discussed during a workshop it is holding in the Greek capital Athens. An announcement said the workshop, to take place between 22 and 25 February 2010, would evaluate the conclusions of the first experimental course started in November 2009 and currently under way in Greece, and discuss recommendations for further developments and a better sustainability of the action. The introduction of a course for cultural heritage protection for high-school students will also be examined. Participants include project partners, teachers, students and a number of additional stakeholders.
  More information: http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?id_type=1&id=20780&lang_id=450

• Evening of the Heritage News Reporters Association (HNA) in the Grand Rex. Paris (France) March 23rd 2010
  On the occasion of its 2010 Yearbook publication, the HNA has the pleasure to invite you to a co-existence and heritage evening at the Grand Rex next 23rd March. The last HNA members will be here.
  More information in French: http://universityandheritage.net/Grand_Rex.pdf

2 March

• An article devoted to the research group Achac in “Libération”
  In February 26th 2010, the Newspaper Libération dedicates its rubric “Great angle” to the work carried out by the research group Achac on immigration from the Southern areas in France. (article.pdf)
  This group of researchers has been working on the representations and colonial and post-colonial imagery since 1989, as well as on the migrations from the Southern areas in France.
  Created around a web of competences, in association with different institutions, research groups or universities, its underlying purpose is to promote research activities (with the creation of an iconographic collection), editing activities (books, articles, catalogues, pedagogical brochures, associations...), research manifestations (colloquia, conferences, seminars, forums...) or activities open to public opinion (pedagogical programmes, exhibitions, documentaries...)
  More information in French: http://www.achac.com/

• UNESCO Director General expresses concern about Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb (Palestine)
  The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, expressed her concern today at the announcement by the Israeli Prime Minister that two sites located in the occupied Palestinian territory, the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb, are to be included in a National Heritage Programme. She also expressed concern at the resulting escalation of tension in the area. Endorsing the statement by Robert H. Serry, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, that these sites are “of historical and religious significance not only to Judaism but also to Islam, and to Christianity as well”, the Director-General reiterated UNESCO’s long-standing conviction that cultural heritage should serve as a means for dialogue.
  More information: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/unesco_director_general_expresses_concern_about_
  tomb_of_the_patriarchs_and_rachels_tomb/browse/1/back/18276/

1 March

• Heritage Study Pilot Project (Australia)
  Heritage Victoria has launched a landmark project designed to explore the story of migration to Victoria from the 1940s to the present day, and to identify examples of places and objects that help tell this important story. In the past, these places have often not been recognised. With the initial stages of the project completed, Heritage Victoria is launching a pilot project to test ways of working with migrant communities (and their organisations) so that places of importance to the story of migration can be identified. The pilot project will be undertaken by consultants Context Pty Ltd.
  More information: http://heritage.vic.gov.au/admin/file/content2/c7/Feb_2010_Inherit.pdf

• A magnificent Minton peacock, a stone miner’s cottage, a Moderne commercial building and a suburban cricket ground have been added to the Victorian Heritage Register
  A magnificent Minton peacock which survived one of Australia’s worst shipwrecks, a stone miner’s cottage, a Moderne commercial building and a suburban cricket ground have been added to the Victorian Heritage Register this month.
  More information: http://heritage.vic.gov.au/admin/file/content2/c7/Feb_2010_Inherit.pdf

• Courses in building conservation - Melbourne School of Design, Melbourne University (Australia)
  To meet increased demand for skilled architects and advisors in building and related conservation work, both within Australia and in the Asia-Pacific region, Melbourne School of Design is offering courses in building conservation. Melbourne School of Design offers subjects in three different ways:
  • In the form of diploma and masters courses for those who intend to specialise in this area
  • As electives within MSD Masters programs.
  • As professional development courses for architects and other practitioners as part of the Community Access Program (CAP).

  More information: http://heritage.vic.gov.au/Home.aspx?newsID=261

• Victoria's framework of historical themes (Australia)
  Planning Minister Justin Madden and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Richard Wynne unveiled Victoria’s first Framework of Historical Themes on the stage under the huge fig (below right) in Flagstaff Gardens on 4 February. The Framework of Historical Themes highlights what is distinctive about Victoria, and increases awareness and appreciation of the State’s heritage. The Framework is a tool for heritage professionals, local government staff, teachers, managers of museum collections, interpreters and others interested in Victoria’s natural and cultural heritage. Developed by Heritage Victoria, the Framework was compiled with the assistance of the Heritage Council of Victoria and the Aboriginal Heritage Council of Victoria and involved extensive consultation with other Heritage professionals. Pictured after the launch are:(from left) Planning Minister Justin Madden, Chair of Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council Eleanor Bourke, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Richard Wynne and Chair of the Heritage Council Daryl Jackson AO.
  More information: http://heritage.vic.gov.au/admin/file/content2/c7/Feb_2010_Inherit.pdf

26 February

• Launching of the 2010 Season for Archaeological Excavation sites for volunteers of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication
  The 2010 Season for Archaeological Excavation sites for volunteers of the Ministry of Culture and Communication begins today. Here you can find the first sites: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/fouilles/pdf/chantier2010.pdf (sites for the Alsatian region). For the following sites, you can regularly visit the following address:
  http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fouilles as those sites which have been previously validated by the different Committees are being gradually uploaded. You can find more information in French in the following address below:
  More information in French: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/fouilles/

• Europa Nostra Council supports Italia Nostra's appeal for the legal protection of the Historic Town Centre of l'Alquila (Italy)
  The Council of Europa Nostra unanimously decided during its bi-annual meeting in The Hague (The Netherlands) on 12 February 2010, to endorse the following appeal to the Italian Government by its founding Member Organisation Italia Nostra. Italia Nostra urgently calls for a coherent, consistent and legally binding conservation plan for the Historic Town Centre of L’ Aquila and its surrounding small historic villages in the Abruzzo Region of Italy, as they are rebuilt after the devastating earthquake of 6 April 2009. Italia Nostra emphasises the need for the entire area to be declared a historic monument and cultural landscape of extraordinary significance, and insist that its protection be guaranteed by the State.
  More information: http://www.europanostra.org/news/89/

• Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas and Uncomfortable Truths - "The Royal Academy of Arts" London (United Kingdom)
  The Royal Academy of Arts held a two-day symposium in September 2009, following the publication of the book 'Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas and Uncomfortable Truths', edited by Dr Alison Bracker and Alison Richmond.
  More information: http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/education/conservation-principles-%20dilemmas-and-uncomfortable-truths,1104,AR.html

• Planned Conservation for 20th-century Architectural Heritage. Como, Italy 2009
  Sponsored by the Comune di Como, the conference was organized by DOCOMOMO Italia, Politecnico di Milano and the UNESCO Chair on preventive conservation, monitoring and maintenance of monuments and sites, in collaboration with Fondazione Cariplo. The delegation from Belgium included Anouk Stulens (Monumentenwacht Vlaanderen), Prof. Koen Van Balen, Prof. Luc Verpoest, PhD students Willemijne Linssen, Neža Cebron Lipovec and Hsienyang Tseng, and visiting scholar Meiping Wu (RLICC).
  More information: http://universidadypatrimonio.net/doc/RLICC_Tseng.pdf

• Repair Mortars for Historic Masonry. Stockholm, Sweden 2009
  The network of building materials research laboratories consists of different technical committees. One of them is the RILEM Technical Committee “Repair Mortars for Historic Masonry”. At the meeting held in Stockholm on 15-16 October 2009, progress of the editing of guiding documents has been discussed. Their subject is the design of mortar for repair of masonry structures based on technical and scientific input from experts of many Countries (USA, Canada, The Netherlands, Germany, UK, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Turkey, France, Czech Republic, etc.). At the meeting Dr. Ozlem Cizer, post-doctoral researcher at K.U. Leuven, briefly presented the outcome of her previous PhD research on the competition between hydration and carbonation on lime based mortars. Also Dr. Roel Hendrickx presented his PhD research at the same university on the adequate measuring of the workability of mortar. Both constitute a significant scientific contribution to the documents the committee is preparing and will contribute to the creation of a sound basis for the use of lime based mortar in conservation.
  More information: http://universidadypatrimonio.net/doc/RLICC_Balen.pdf

• Networking of Conservation Professionals in the Arab Region. Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 2009
  During 16-18 November 2009 Prof. Koen Van Balen participated in the “Workshop on networking of conservation professionals in the Arab region: the role of higher education” at University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The workshop was organized within the ATHAR program of ICCROM. The workshop aimed at understanding the training and education activities in the Arab Region. The RLICC director presented the set-up and the results of the Master in Conservation of Monuments and Sites programme at K.U. Leuven, and the objectives and activities of the UNESCO Chair on preventive conservation, monitoring and maintenance of monuments and sites. In relation to the latter first contacts were made to identify the training needs that would help to improve the periodic reporting and monitoring of World Heritage Sites.
  More information: http://universidadypatrimonio.net/doc/RLICC_Balen.pdf

• Preventive Conservation: Practice in the Field of Built Heritage. Fribourg, Switzerland 2009
  The conference “Preventive conservation: practice in the field of built heritage” was held on 3-4 September 2009 at Fr ibourg, Switzerland. It was the very topic of the 2009 annual congress and annual general meeting of the Swiss Association of Conservator-Restorers (SCR/SKR). Preventive conservation is universally recognized and generally practiced in the museum context, but in the last 50 years, the importance of regular inspection and maintenance of historic buildings has been emphasized, and recently, the same principles have been reiterated by the Swiss Commission of Historic Monuments.
  More information: http://universidadypatrimonio.net/doc/RLICC_Congress.pdf

• A study of the documentation process for conservation of architectural heritage sites -Master thesis by Tokiko Onaka (architect, Japan)
  Illustrated by examples from Egypt and Belgium.
  The goal of this thesis is to draw up a guideline for documentation processes and the selection for tools used during conservation activities. The research questions are:
  1. What kind of documents should be created during a conservation project?
  2. How should these documentation steps be taken?
  3. How are tools selected?

  More information: http://universidadypatrimonio.net/doc/RLICC_Onaka.pdf

• MDDS: Monument Damage Diagnostic System - Master thesis by Manuela CORE (Architect, Italy)
  The development of an expert system as a survey and damage interpretation tool for the stability of masonry structures.
  The aim of this master thesis is to contribute to the development of the new MDDS component, through the analysis of one of the main structural damage manifestations, the crack pattern.
  More information: http://universidadypatrimonio.net/doc/RLICC_Manuela.pdf

• Loch Ard Peacock has been included in the Victorian Heritage Register (Australia)
  A grand statue of a peacock washed ashore after one of Victoria’s most infamous shipwrecks has been included in the Victorian Heritage Register. The Loch Ard Peacock was shipped to Australia in 1878, aboard the iron clipper the Loch Ard. On the night of 31 May 1878, the Loch Ard was shipwrecked along the south-west coast of Victoria, near Warrnambool. It was one of Victoria’s and Australia’s worst shipwreck tragedies with the loss of 52 lives. The Loch Ard Peacock, as it became known after the shipwreck, was originally destined for Melbourne as one of the key exhibits for the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880-1881, marking the opening of the Royal Exhibition Building.
  More information: http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/vhd/heritagevic#detail_places;113397

• GHF group to restore historic Intramuros. Manila (Philippines)
  The Department of Tourism (DOT) received a pledge of support for the preservation of historic Intramuros from the Global Heritage Fund (GHF) Mission. The Global Heritage Fund Mission is a distinguished non-profit conservation group that provides assistance to developing countries in preserving their cultural heritage sites. Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano and GHF International Conservation Director John Hurd signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Friday at the Ilustrados Restaurant in Intramuros to formally commence the working partnership.
  More information: http://globalheritagefund.org/index.php/in_the_news/
  press_coverage/ghf_group_to_restore_historic_intramuros

• Colombia's 'Lost City' to get $580,000 investment
  The Colombian Institute of Anthropology and the Global Heritage Fund announced on Tuesday that they will invest $580,000 in the maintenance of the Ciudad Perdida, or Lost City. The Lost City is in Teyuna Archeological Park, located on Colombia’s Sierra Nevada mountain range. Discovered in 1972, the ruins are thought to date from 800 A.D. The site has only recently been open to visitors, as the area was previously occupied by guerrilla forces. El Informador explains that the development of the park, recognized as one of the most historically important in the country, will be funded by investments of $180,000 by the ICANH and $400,000 by US Heritage Fund. The money will be used for research and restoration projects in and around the historical site.
  More information: http://globalheritagefund.org/index.php/in_the_news/
  press_coverage/colombias_lost_city_to_get_580000_investment

• Abbey Road listed by English Heritage as Culture Minister waxes lyrical
  Abbey Road, the world's oldest purpose-built recording studios which have been at the centre of a £30 million public campaign to save them, have been officially protected with a Grade II listing status. Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Margaret Hodge was finally compelled to act on a recommendation by advisors after owners EMI were rumoured to have put the historic St John's Wood building up for sale, sparking uproar among music and culture lovers across the UK. English Heritage first urged the government to list the building in 2003, insisting that the building possessed "huge cultural importance" and "a remarkable and inspiring association with music making".
  More information: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%26+heritage/historic+buildings/art76402

23 February

• Lawrence Halprin: Creating landscapes for over 60 years (Pioneers Oral Histories)
  Halprin designed spaces which brought his knowledge and love of nature, movement, and social ideas into urban spaces. Pioneers Oral Histories help identify designed landscapes that require special care or consideration in their management and maintenance decisions. In addition, these interviews often help identify a designer's involvement when it cannot be determined by more traditional methods of historical research. Oral histories allow us to capture and preserve important aspects of the human experience that would otherwise go undocumented.
  More information: http://tclf.org/pioneer/oral-history-project

• Dreams Do Come True: Cleveland Straddles the Divide
  Christopher Marcinkoski, a senior associate with James Corner Field Operations in New York City, recently gave me an overview of several of the firm’s projects. I continue to marvel at their work on the High Line, the abandoned early 20th century elevated train tracks that have been turned into one of New York’s 21st century cultural gems. The project brilliantly weds fields, I’ve argued, that are often seen as adversarial, landscape architecture and landscape preservation. In fact, the work at Field Operations appears to embrace a design ethic I’ve long advocated, involving a shared value system of nature, scenery and culture, and strengthens the need for us to develop professional standards and ethics regarding cultural systems...
  More information: http://tclf.org/content/dreams-do-come-true-cleveland-straddles-divide

• Now We Know What's Out There in Palm Beach
  Whenever traveling, I always try to explore parks and gardens I’ve never visited. Recently, while visiting family near Palm Beach, Florida, I decided to check out that town’s historic designed landscapes. For a place that’s so famous (think Mar-a-Lago or the Breakers), some Web surfing prior to my arrival yielded few results – just the Flagler Museum and a handful of consulting firms. Fortunately, the survey section of my personal library (which includes statewide surveys for Illinois, Indiana, Maine, and Rhode Island) has the wonderful publication Historic Landscapes of Florida by Rocco Ceo and Joanna Lombard (The Deering Foundation and University of Miami School of Architecture, 2001)...
  More information: http://tclf.org/content/now-we-know-whats-out-there-palm-beach

• Maritime mysteries: Diving for clues - Cover Story
  Under the auspices of UNESCO and the Government of Thailand, with funding from the Royal Norwegian Government, this class is engaged in a six-week intensive programme on the basics of underwater archaeology and cultural heritage management through lectures and field work, including a two-week survey of the “Mannok Site”. The iron steamship Ruea Mail lies in the Gulf of Thailand near Mannok Island, in Thailand’s Rayong province. Today, where the boat rests on a mostly sandy bottom at 18-20 metres, underwater visibility extends only about two metres. The Ruea Mail looms dark and mysterious. It might be easy to imagine shadowy, half-seen things swaying in the slight current are ghosts. But Duang and the other students have no time for such fantasies just now. They’re working.
  More information: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001869/186930e.pdf

Accessibility to Cultural Heritage: Nordic Perspectives
Editor: Oddbjørn Sørmoen
ISBN 978-92-893-1
Heritage has meaning only through its encounter with people. This report shows how accessibility questions are being addressed through practical examples drawn from across the Nordic countries. There are considerable variations in scale, ranging from the remote church on an island in Iceland to the baroque palace in the centre of Stockholm. Most of the cases have found their solutions, some permanent and others temporary, while others represent challenges that are still being worked on. It is important to make people aware of the various choices that have to be taken, especially when the solutions have negative consequences for the heritage. Physical accessibility can shadow for understanding and experience of the site or monument.
http://www.norden.org/sv/publikationer/publikationer/2009-572

Les Castel : une agence d'architecture au XX e siècle
Author: Isabelle Chiavassa & François Gasnault
ISBN: 9782863641934
Gaston Castel (1886-1971) a été l'un des architectes les plus importants du sud-est de la France, de la fin de la Grande Guerre aux années de la Reconstruction : ses réalisations aussi nombreuses que diverses, stylistiquement éclectiques, restent bien présentes dans le paysage urbain, notamment à Marseille et à Aix-en-Provence. Architecte en chef du département des Bouches-du-Rhône dans l'entre-deux-guerres,chroniqueur aux Cahiers du sud, chef d'atelier à l'Ecole des beaux-arts de Marseille - Fernand Pouillon y fut son élève -, Castel a fondé en 1921 une agence qui fut ensuite dirigée par son fils Ello puis par son petit-fils Yves. Ce livre réunit des études qui réévaluent l'apport des Castel à la création architecturale du xxe siècle et fournit le catalogue quasi exhaustif, projet par projet, des archives écrites et graphiques de cette agence.
http://www.citechaillot.fr/activite/sortie_de_livre.php?id=352

The International Journal of Conservation Science (IJCS) is a high quality peer-reviewed journal devoted to the publication of original research papers in applied conservation science and its broad range of applications.

The topics cover all disciplines and branches of modern scientific conservation, including different aspects on general conservation theory, scientific investigation of works of art, authentication, determination of conservation state, compatibility studies for preservation and restoration procedures, monitoring of interventions effectiveness, etiopathology of historic and natural monuments, studies on the mechanisms of deterioration and degradation for different materials as structural and ornamental elements, impact of the environmental factors or agents on monuments and ecosystems, obtaining and characterization of new materials and development of new technologies for preservation and restoration, new methodologies for scientific investigation, other cross-disciplinary aspects of research applied to conservation science.
http://www.ijcs.uaic.ro/