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An International Conference on Museum Environments: Challenges and Opportunities

14-15 December 2021

Cairo-Egypt

Reviewed Full paper submission is on the 15^th of November 2021

Museums are repositories for our cultural heritage and are responsible for the care of precious collections for the benefit of present and future generations. The key to this stewardship role is the management of indoor conditions to prevent deterioration of valuable objects. Preventive control measures are required to keep the indoor climate within conservation limits by maintaining environmental conditions within certain parameters and by minimizing environmental fluctuations. Visitors and staff also demand excellent thermal comfort, access to natural light and good air quality to enable them to access these collections. Conflicting environmental requirements often require a degree of comprise and managing these environmental demands will be become ever more challenging for museums as the impact of climate change leads to more frequent extreme weather conditions. The safe preservation of cultural heritage is an essential mission of museums around the globe regardless of geographical boundaries or borders. However, the variation in the levels of resources, funding mechanisms, and management protocols often results in great variability in the environmental management practice and procedures adopted by the different institutions where valuable lessons learned can be shared and used. The 1st international conference on Museum Environments: Challenges and Opportunities will provide a platform for museum curators, academics, conservation architects and heritage collection managers to present and share the latest research results, knowledge and experience in the field of museums’ microclimate management and operation. The conference aims at presenting and sharing best practices in museology and mobile heritage conservation including the challenges associated with meeting conflicting environmental requirements, demanding international standards and the use of technology in assessing museum performance, digital twinning, and monitoring indoor conditions.

As the prime location of one of the world's oldest civilizations and the home to some of the most priceless heritage wonders, Cairo has been an attractive node for hosting prestigious international forums enabling the interactive exchange of state-of-the-art knowledge on the management and conservation of cultural heritage. The conference will be organized by the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Egypt and the Smart Urban Futures research group at the University of Salford in the United Kingdom together with other collaborating higher education and heritage institutions from Egypt and the United Kingdom.

Scholars and practitioners are invited to share their knowledge, ideas, experiences, projects as well as to expand their professional networks and explore opportunities for future research collaboration with heritage organizations and academic institutions around the world. The conference is committed to showcasing, sharing and disseminating the latest research findings in the field.

Organizers:

The Conference is jointly organized by:

Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo
Smart Urban Futures Research Group (SURF) at the University of Salford, Greater Manchester

Location:

The confernece is planned to be a Hybrid Event at the Faculty of engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo. It is a socially distanced full-scale conference but due to the current restrictions on travel and the ongoing uncertainty caused by the COVID -19 pandemic, the organizing committee will be also offering online participation to the event with virtual video presentation option and electronic conference proceedings.