IAASF 2023 - 11th - 13th September
Monday, 11th September 2023
The IAASF Conference returned for its 4th year this September discussing how we can 'Protect Cultural Venues During Uncertain Times'.
Last week, the IAASF Committee welcomed delegates from around the world to Redworth Hall Hotel, County Durham for IAASF 2023. The planning and preparations for the event have been ongoing since October 2022 and it was exciting to finally see all our original plans come together.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2023, it was brought to our attention the lasting impact war and conflict have on cultural heritage and how we can collectively show our support and raise awareness of the uncertain times many venues are facing. This is why we chose the theme 'Protecting Cultural Heritage During Uncertain Times' as there are other ongoing threats including crime, environmental, fire, protests, and terrorism that can result in damage, loss or harm to our much-loved cultural heritage sites.
To discuss this, we welcomed speakers from across Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand and the UK to share their knowledge and expertise on a variety of topics from emergency planning, the benefits of risk assessing, cyber threats, secure transportation of artefacts, and the insider threat to cultural venues. Having speakers from different locations allowed us to consider the similarities and differences in procedures that take place at venues around the world and helped us to consider new operational processes that can be taken on board.
During breaks between sessions and an evening networking event, delegates had the opportunity to browse our sponsors and exhibitors area where the latest security innovations were displayed from glazing, doors and locking systems, health and safety equipment, metal mesh, business management systems, and cyber security support. All of the products and strategies displayed have experience supporting the protection of cultural heritage in some way, therefore we would like to thank all sponsors and exhibitors for choosing to exhibit their materials at IAASF 2023.
We would like to give thanks to everyone involved in the success of the conference from our speakers and sponsors, to the IAASF team and members of staff at Redworth Hall Hotel. We look forward to receiving everyone's feedback to help us with our future events and we look forward to sharing further updates soon.