The purpose of “Green paper on multi-material preventive conservation guidelines” (Deliverable 7.5) is to encourage a broad reflection on new approaches to Preventive Conservation of cultural objects considering their materiality and condition and, to stimulate the discussion on environmental monitoring and conservation strategies at EU level.
Guidelines, models, and tools that reflect current EU policy trends in the practice of preventive conservation are critically reviewed in this Green Paper with a view to presenting current available sources and stimulating discussion. Additional topics addressed in this publication include risk assessment of climate-induced damage, inherent material degradation, the potential loss of value, and an evaluation of degradation models and the data collection methods used to inform these models. The latter is particularly useful for those reviewing data collection practices for the purpose of risk assessment.
The Green Paper emphasises that understanding the rationale behind existing environmental guidance is a key step in appropriately evaluating collection risk, eventually resulting in shifting attitudes from risk aversion to risk management and more sustainable management of cultural heritage collections.