“Cultural Heritage Research Alliance” set up between the Fraunhofer Institute, Leibniz Association and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation

17.12.2011
Rathgen-Forschungslabor

The aim of the alliance is for the three partners to pool together their competencies in the arts, sciences and culture to develop and try out new methods in the restoration and conservation of cultural artefacts, to strengthen the transfer of knowledge between research and restoration practice and to anchor the importance of cultural heritage more firmly in the public consciousness.

The alliance sees fifteen Fraunhofer institutes, eight Leibniz research museums and five main entities of the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage join forces to initiate a lively exchange of information on their separate experiences. A series of joint research projects should further speed up the development of innovative restoration and conservation techniques. In addition, two other important focus areas for the research alliance are encouraging the next generation of scientists and the expansion of national and international networks.

Essential tasks laid out in the area of national conservation research include:

• entering into a national survey on the status quo of research into the preservation of cultural heritage, defining research priorities,
• lobbying activities for the creation of a competitive national framework to promote conservation research,
• raising awareness of conservation sciences among politicians and the general public,
• providing further training and education for conservation scientists.