Cultural heritage conservation is a complex field that involves many diverse communities. It is built on material expertise, context and the relationships that shape our work. Whether we analyse pigments, stabilise historic textiles, design exhibition displays, or work directly with communities to safeguard living traditions, we recognise that cultural materials are deeply connected to people, place, and knowledge systems.
As AICCM continues to learn and grow in its cultural responsibilities, this conference is an opportunity to bring together all aspects of our work - scientific, material, ethical, cultural and relational. It marks an important step in strengthening relationships with First Nations and all communities to embed cultural perspectives and build stronger, more culturally informed conservation practices together.
We invite proposals from members and colleagues across diverse conservation interests which contribute to the topics of this meeting:
- Community-Led Approaches in Conservation - Collaborative methods that bring communities and professionals together
- Relational Responsibility in Conservation - Integrating knowledge, ethics, and cultural responsibility in conservation
- Material Knowledge & Technical Innovations in Conservation - Advancing our understanding of materials to inform conservation practice
Presentations will be scheduled for approximately 15 minutes, followed by time for questions. We also welcome proposals for other types of presentations such as performance or film/audio visual screening. There will be no hard copy posters, but instead we are inviting submissions for PowerPoint Posters - a three-slide PowerPoint presentation to be displayed as a slide show. These will also be available on the AICCM website. Three-minute poster pitch sessions will be scheduled in the auditorium as part of the conference programme if you wish to present your poster.
For more information on the conference and how to submit a proposal, please visit the AICCM website https://aiccm.org.au/aiccm-conference-2025/
Submissions close 16 May 2025