European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers' Organisations
european conservation-restoration organization
The European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers' Organisations (E.C.C.O.) is a European non-governmental professional organisation aimed at safeguarding cultural heritage through the use of conservation-restoration techniques.
Organisation and objectives
E.C.C.O. was established in 1991 by 14 European conservator-restorers' organisations. As of 2018 it represents close to 6,000 professionals within 22 European countries and 25 members organisations, including one international body (International Association of Book and Papers Conservators – IADA). E.C.C.O. represents the field of preservation of cultural heritage, both movable and immovable, with the mission:
to organize, develop and promote, on a practical, scientific and cultural level, the profession of the Conservator-Restorer
to set standards and regulate practice at European level and enhance communication between and mobility of professionals
to strengthen the role and responsibilities of the Conservator-Restorer in relation to others in safeguarding cultural heritage.
History
E.C.C.O. was founded on 14 October 1991 as European federation of restorers’ associations, with the aim of working together to develop a common European project for professional recognition of the conservator-restorers’ profession. New associations have joined as the European Union has expanded. E.C.C.O. has established principles and encouraged regulation to control access to the profession of the Conservator-Restorer, by working on professional standards and publishing guidelines for education and practice.
Projects in which E.C.C.O. has participated include APEL (1998–2001), CON.B.E.FOR (1999–2001), and FULCO (1998), resulting in the Document of Vienna. E.C.C.O. was also involved in the drawing of the Document of Pavia (1997), the Namur Declaration (2015), and the Declaration of Berlin (2016). E.C.C.O. has produced various professional guidelines:
I The Profession (2002)
II Code of Ethics (2003)
III Education and Training (2004)
Competences for Access to the Conservation-Restoration Profession (2011)
Since the end of 2014, E.C.C.O. has followed a new strategic plan and its proposed implementation.
“European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers' Organisations” enters the record as european conservation-restoration organization. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what European, Confederation and Conservator-Restorers' can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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