No abstract

Risk assessment and the purpose it serves, risk management, are widely adopted by business, institutions, and governments, seeking to minimize future losses of all kinds. If the preservation goal of museums is stated as the delivery of the collection to some future point in time with as little loss in value as possible, then risk assessment and risk management provide the only rational means to reach this goal. Difficulties arise due to uncertainty and complexity. A three-week course on this method has been designed, and recently offered, by ICCROM (the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) and the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), with the collaboration of leading experts from the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN) and the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN). Demand for the knowledge was strong, as shown by the number and diversity of applicants worldwide. Great care and effort was taken with the design of the learning process and the supporting resources, in order to overcome the known, and profound, challenges of the subject. The result has been successful.