David Leigh's report for the Textile Conservation Centre, March 2009:
Securing Conservation Education 543.48 Kb
Escalator 24.26 Kb
In 2008 Icon held two
events about the future of the conservation
workforce. The first of these, called 20:20 Vision - The Conservation
Workforce of the Future, was held at Tate Modern on 9 January. Details
of this event are on the page below.
The second event, held jointly with the Textile Conservation Centre, was
held on 12 June. Details of this event are here.
On
9 January 2008 Icon hosted an event called '20:20 Vision - The
Conservation Workforce of the Future' held at Tate Modern. The purpose
of this event was to think about the implications for higher education
of the changing needs and demands that the future conservation
workforce will face. The presentations made on the day can be found
below.
The outcome was a consensus of the need for a new and closer
partnership between conservation employers (museums, galleries,
libraries and archives as well as larger private sector firms) and
educational institutions.
On 12 June a second seminar was held
in London at which invited participants took this discussion to the
next stage. There was a review of some current research undertaken by
Demos into the value of conservation to contemporary society and an
update of research by Dr. David Leigh about the current profile of
education and training in the UK. Participants were then asked to
bring forward specific proposals for how their own institution could
contribute to a closer and more productive partnership between
employers and universities. Presentations will be posted here soon.
from 9th January Meeting
This symposium for conservation employers asked two key questions about the future conservation workforce:
What will the public expect from museums, libraries, galleries and
archives in 2020? What demands will the commercial sector in
conservation have to address? What does this mean in terms of the
future workforce? What new skills will conservators need to have? How
many will be needed? How many will be working directly for heritage
institutions and how many will be independent?
Most people agree that a partnership between universities and employers
is required to deliver the future workforce, but what should that
partnership look like? Our profession relies on universities to produce
graduates with a good theoretical and scientific grounding in
conservation, allied with the maximum degree of practical skills and
experience that can be delivered within the course time available.
Teaching this unique academic-practical mix relies necessarily on a low
student-staff ratio, at odds with current government pressures on
higher education institutions. Can employers help universities by
contributing to the development of conservation training in this
climate, and what possible models can be developed?
This symposium is the first of three interlinked events that will take
place in 2008, all focusing on different aspects of education and the
conservation workforce.
The second meeting, an international summit organised by the Textile
Conservation Centre, asks what future there is for conservation
education and research in universities in the UK and how it can best be
secured. This will also be an invitation only event and will take place
in London in the summer of 2008.
At the end of the day's sessions, the consensus was that conservation
employers needed to play a greater role in the future education and
training of the workforce. It was also clear that there was a real
keeness among employers present to find practical ways of doing so.
The two tasks which Icon will therefore take on in 2008 are:
i. helping employers to map out exactly what kind of expanded role they are able to take on
ii. exploring with universities and other training institutions how an
increased employer role could help them restructure what they do so
that we maintain standards, increase employability and redistribute
training responsibilities in a way which yields benefits for
universities, employers and trainees alike.
Three specific actions were agreed as a followup to the seminar on 9 January:
1. Icon will go back and revise its provisional statement on training and professional entry in the light of the contributions made during the day.
2. Icon will publish a summary of the main points raised during the
seminar and draft conclusions/next steps and circulate these to all
participants for comment and discussion.
3. Icon will draft a set of proposals/questions arising from this
seminar and forward them to participants in the second seminar, to be
hosted by the Textile Conservation in the summer of 2008.
2020 Vision: The Conservation Workforce of the Future
Alastair McCapra, Icon Chief Executive slides speaking notes
The Future Workforce
Roy Clare, Chief Executive, MLA written summary will be published shortly
Have We Got the Workforce We Deserve?’
Mark Taylor, Chief Executive, the Museums Association slides speaking notes
The Heritage Lottery Fund: investing in skills for the future'
Carole Souter, Director, Heritage Lottery Fund slides speaking notes
Developing Conservation Skills for the Future in the National Trust
Katy Lithgow ACR, Head Conservator slides speaking notes (© National Trust 2008)
Employment and Education Partnership
Chris Woods ACR, Director, Collection & Programme Services, Tate slides
The contribution of private sector employers
Robert Turner ACR, Eura Conservation
Icon’s contribution to developing the future workforce
Carol Brown ACR, Icon Training Development Manager slides
The future of professional standards and accreditation
Alastair McCapra, Icon Chief Executive slides
Training Projects 
