Education Strategies for Science Communication and Education in Conservation Science

The input of science into conservation is often limited to the research field of conservation science. This field is occupied by scientists, many of whom are only seeking suitable applications for their sophisticated instrumental analytical equipment. However, the results that are gained rarely contribute to improving the scientific or technological basis of conservation. Aside from providing a valuable description of a historical material's composition, more assistance in developing improved or new treatment technologies is needed. In achieving this goal, an engineering approach is preferable to a purely scientific one. Combining research and development requires specialists with an academic background that enables them to use scientific knowledge to design new and verifiably improved techniques. It also enables them to make these techniques available to conservators so that they find acceptance. To succeed, this process must bring conservators on board from the beginning, since conservators are the ones who define the specifications that a newly developed technique must fulfil and who judge whether - and how successfully - these specifications and quality criteria are fulfilled in conservation. Since no formal education in conservation science or indeed conservation engineering exists in central Europe, an academic postgraduate programme at technical universities should be established to provide a knowledge base that includes the history of materials, the historical techniques and the requirements for improving the stability, usability or appearance of historic artefacts. In addition, academic educational programmes in conservation need to be reorganized to select the relevant topics in physics, chemistry and materials science, to develop a scientifically sound terminology and eventually to prepare students for cooperating with conservation engineers or scientists.