IIC Lima Congress 2024: Sustainable solutions for conservation: new strategies for new times Lima, Peru, September 23-26, 2024

The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) and the Research Center for Heritage Conservation at the Universidad de Ingenieria & Tecnologia (UTEC) in Lima, are pleased to issue a call for proposals for the 30th biennial IIC Congress 2024 to be hosted in person and online in Lima, Peru, with hybrid Regional Live Hubs in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

Building on the success of the IIC 2022 Wellington Congress, we are delighted to announce that the Congress in 2024 will take a similar hybrid format, promoting a more sustainable and climate-friendly event. By offering the Congress in a hybrid form IIC aims to make this event as accessible and inclusive as possible, extending our global reach from Africa to Asia-Pacific, as well as offering the opportunity for in-person events, networking and experience of the unique culture and heritage that Peru has to offer.

The Congress theme is Sustainable solutions for conservation: new strategies for new times.

The field of conservation has undoubtedly developed unequally and inequitably around the world, and it is not uncommon for countries with some of the richest heritage to be amongst the least developed. These discrepancies are widely recognized to have become more extreme with climate change and during the recent global pandemic, where limited resources are restricted even further. Sustainable conservation strategies are desperately needed to create safe and more affordable approaches that will increase protection for the world’s heritage and provide greater resilience to future world events and crises.

By proposing South America as the host for the 2024 IIC Congress and Lima as the main venue, our starting point will be the challenges associated with conserving Peru’s rich cultural heritage, but we’ll also look outwards to the similar challenges facing many other countries around the world. We would like this Congress to act as a catalyst to improve the IIC’s visibility and relevance to the region, as well as creating a lasting legacy of connecting professionals and training programmes globally.

We are looking for new, original, unpublished work, relevant to the Congress theme and to the conservation profession, exploring the shift to sustainable, accessible, and environmentally friendly solutions in conservation. Sub-themes of particular interest include:

• Sustainable approaches for both moveable and built heritage, including the concepts of adaptation and ‘managed loss’
• Re-evaluation of traditional methods and techniques for preventive and remedial conservation that offer more sustainable solutions.
• Reducing consumption, avoiding single use and hazardous materials, and sourcing local, natural materials
• Innovative ways of reducing energy consumption
• Models of collaborative international and interdisciplinary work that increase professional interaction among communities.
• The effective use of virtual networks and online tools for conservation.
• The rising role and involvement of communities and different social entities as active caretakers of their heritage.
• The creation and maintenance of programmes offering professional training in conservation.

Preference will be given to paper and poster proposals that describe new research and its application to cultural heritage conservation. If case studies are presented, they must demonstrate the wider applicability and lessons for the sector. Contributions pointing the way to future challenges and research needs will also be welcomed.

In-person attendance of presenters at the congress is not mandatory, and participation online will be facilitated. Authors will be required to pre-record a presentation to support the hybrid format.

Submission Guidelines

• All papers must be original and not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference. 
• Proposals should be minimum 350 words and maximum 500 words
• Proposals can be in English, Spanish or Portuguese; we're happy to accept any of these languages. The text must include the following four sections:

- 1 introduction explaining the purpose and scope of your proposed topic

- 2 indication of the method used to gather your evidence   

- 3 outline of the implications or impact of your project

- 4 your conclusions (actual or anticipated)

• Please specify if you are submitting a proposal for a poster, otherwise we will assume it is for a paper
• You will need to supply at least three keywords but no other supplementary information (such as references, images, tables, information about additional authors, etc.); these will be requested later if your proposal is accepted
• We are not asking for a copy of your paper now, so ignore the option to submit one
• Make sure that it is clear in your proposal which of the congress sub-themes it addresses

Deadline for Submissions:  31 May 2023 (midnight BST)  

Key Dates:

·       Submissions System Closes: 31 May 2023 (midnight BST)

·       Notification to Authors of Selection: by end of July 2023

·       First Drafts Expected: end of September 2023

·       Congress Dates: 23 – 26 September 2024

Congress Proceedings - Publication

IIC Lima Congress 2024 proceedings will be published by Taylor and Francis as a digital only supplement to Studies in Conservation.

• The published abstracts will be in both English and Spanish/Portugese and the full papers will be in English.
• Authors will be expected to pre-record their presentations in advance of the Congress;
• The recorded presentations will be linked to papers, which will be published online only, within a digital supplement to Studies in Conservation published by IIC and Taylor & Francis. This will enable enhanced searchability, access to the papers and presentations worldwide and provide a permanent record. 
• Poster abstracts and poster presentations will not be published in the Congress proceedings, but posters will be made available through the Congress website after the congress takes place and published in a special Congress digital issue of News in Conservation.

Congress Committees

Local Organising Committee 

• Chair - Dr Juan Carlos F. Rodríguez Reyes
• Congress Council Lead - Dr Tom Learner (IIC Council, Director of Congress)

Technical and Editorial Committees

• Technical Committee Chair - Dr Isobel Griffin 
• Editorial Committee Chair - Dr Joyce Townsend (IIC Council, Director of Publications)

Special Note

Once submissions have been reviewed, authors will be notified by the Chair of the Technical Committee. Further guidance and instructions for authors will be made available in July 2023 on the IIC website: www.iiconservation.org 

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed in the first instance to congress@iiconservation.org