Note: Registration for this event is now closed.
NSERC CREATE Heritage Engineering will host a Workshop on Ethics and Heritage Conservation on April 27, 2017 from 9:00am to 12:30pm at Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS).
The morning workshop will be followed by an afternoon forum on International Research at CIMS, featuring recent research projects in Myanmar, Nepal, Egypt and Castries, and a presentation by our visiting scholar Dr. Luigi Barazzetti of Milan, Italy.
The workshop and forum are free of cost and open to all students, collaborators, partners and friends of NSERC CREATE Heritage Engineering. Please register by clicking on the link here.
The workshop agenda and background readings are available here: Agenda – NSERC CREATE Ethics Workshop – 27April 2016
Professional codes of ethics have been created internationally for those involved in heritage conservation, ranging from museums to intangible cultural heritage. In Canada, there are codes of ethics for archaeologists, conservators and heritage professionals guided by the principles outlined by ICOMOS. The formulation and treatment of important themes within these documents can provide useful guidance in thinking about possible ethical stances in various contexts or situations.
Current practice in heritage conservation offers example of challenging ethical situations. Heritage consultants are sometimes required to provide the advice that paying clients desire that in fact negate heritage significance and justify destruction of recognized historic places. On other occasions, political pressure from elected officials over-rules the professional commitment of heritage planners to care for heritage. In other cases, professionals who carry out work for clients are unable to share their reports with successor consultants because of perceived confidentiality and ownership of such materials.
The workshop presents the context, guidelines and principles for an ethical approach to heritage conservation followed by case studies that illustrate ethical problems that have been encountered in practice. Participants will be encouraged to comment on the theory and practical examples, and to suggest other approaches to address these situations