Preventive Conservation - From Climate and Damage Monitoring to a Systemic and Integrated Approach: Proceedings of the International WTA - PRECOM3OS . on Cultural Heritage Theories and Practices)

The concept of preventive conservation has successfully introduced the knowledge that "prevention is better than cure" into the built heritage sector. The benefits of this approach are the cost-effectiveness, the improved protection of heritage values, the reduced risk for accumulating deterioration and additional damage, the prolongation of the physical service life of buildings and building parts and the empowerment of local communities in dealing with heritage. Increasingly, arguments rise against reactive treatment patterns, which result too often in postponed interventions and increasing costs for restoration.

WTA-Nederland-Vlaanderen, the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation and the Civil Engineering Department of KU Leuven jointly organised an international conference on preventive conservation approaches - including climate and damage monitoring - and how to implement these monitoring tools within a systemic approach. The conference took place in context of the international WTA days, 3-5 April 2019, and the 10th anniversary of the UNESCO Chair on Preventive Conservation, Monitoring and Maintenance of Monuments and Sites (PRECOM³OS).

The contributions meet the increasing demand for information, case studies and practical examples to support the transition towards more preventive rather than reactive conservation actions. The volume aims at academics and professionals involved or interested in the conservation of buildings, building parts and heritage.

1. Aziliz Vandesande is a post-doctoral researcher at Department of Civil Engineering at KU Leuven (Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation | Building Materials and Building Technology Section). She obtained her Master of Science in Conservation of Monuments and Sites in 2012 at the University of Leuven. During her advanced studies she conducted an internship at the UNESCO office in Amman (Jordan), where she assisted in fieldwork for the development of a Risk Assessment methodology. In 2017, following 4 years of research on preventive conservation strategies for built heritage, she obtained her degree of Doctor of Engineering Science: Civil Engineering. She is a proactive researcher with strong skills in high-level (inter)national research and development projects aimed at increased quality and acceptance of present and emerging technologies for built heritage. She is the Scientific Coordinator of the H2020 project ILUCIDARE and main researcher of the UNESCO Chair on Preventive Conservation, Maintenance and Monitoring of Monuments and Sites (PRECOM³OS). As part of the project & practice-based education, she teaches on Geographic Information Systems, 3D documentation and recording techniques and contributes to international workshops. She has ample experience in international capacity building in Western Balkans, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle-East and South-America. She is (co)author of more several publications in international journals, books and conferences.

2. Els Verstrynge is assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at KU Leuven, Belgium, since 2015, and associate professor since 2020. She obtained a Master of Engineering: Architecture, Magna cum laude, at KU Leuven in 2006. She defended her FWO-funded PhD research on "Long-term behavior of monumental masonry constructions: modelling and probabilistic evaluation", in 2010. She has spent research stays at the Technical University of Delft (2009), the University of Minho (2012) and Stanford University (2016). She currently supervises a group of PhDs and postdocs, with a research focus on "Multi‐scale modelling and characterization of degradation in existing structures". Her research interests include multi-scale numerical and experimental analysis of degradation mechanisms in brittle construction materials, historical masonry and RC structures, advanced NDT and integrated monitoring such as acoustic emission sensing. She is (co)author of more than 120 publications in international journals, books and conferences. She is actively involved in ICOMOS / ISCARSAH, several RILEM TCs, the board of WTA-NL-VL and WTA International.

3. Koen(raad) Van Balen is an Engineer-Architect (1979); post-graduate in architectural conservation (1984) and Ph.D in Engineering (1991, KU Leuven). Academic staff member at KU Leuven since 1993, he is full-professor at Civil Engineering department; director of the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (RLICC). Koen is member of the research Council of KU Leuven. He is the holder of the UNESCO chair on preventive conservation, monitoring and maintenance of monuments and sites (PRECOM3OS) since 2008. Member of various associations and advisory organisations in the field of cultural heritage as ICOMOS, RILEM, National Authorities for Preah Vihear (Cambodia) and member of the Council of Europa Nostra. He is in his second term as chair of the jury Conservation of the European Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. He was involved in activities of periodic reporting on World Heritage and has long-term research collaboration in Cambodia, Central Asia, Ecuador and Cuba. Koen was a visiting scholar at the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles in 2002-2003