In the last fifty years extensive research has been developed to characterise the constitution and degradation behaviour of artwork materials, as well as to test and apply new conservation and restoration methods, in the effort to preserve the European cultural heritage as much as possible for the benefit of future generations. This effort responded to the continuous damage suffered by artefact materials, but also to the outstanding advances of modern material science. Progress in the identification of constituent material and dating, the current development of better conservation-restoration methods, and the applications of innovative analytical techniques, brought great steps forward in the consciousness of the importance of the role that can be played by diagnostic studies and conservation practices.

Great results have been achieved during the last years. However, in spite of the significant progress, much more still remains to be done in order to improve the quality and relevance of research projects and promote effective coordination among European countries in this field.

It is expected that increased cooperation in the field of conservation science will promote the diffusion of the highest level of research, develop potential new applications and appropriate services, and offer opportunities for advanced training of young scientists. At the same time, cooperation could facilitate the establishment of common agreements as well as the sharing of best practices in conservation.

EPISCON makes an original contribution to National and Community policies as well as to the existing knowledge in the field. This is because the number of national and European Institutions and bodies that give economic support to the development of conservation-restoration project as well as organisations and bodies that carry out conservation-restoration projects have increased very much in the recent years. At the same time in these last years an increasing role of the scientific disciplines and therefore of the conservation scientists in the conservation activities has been observed. The “value” of the heritage to conserve cannot only be governed by monetary criteria; therefore the investment in training for Conservation Scientists must be evaluated by the European countries also considering the “invaluable” advantage of improving the quality of conservation activities through better trained and educated actors. The fact that the European budget as well as the national ones are funding with great amount of money the conservation-restoration of their cultural heritage, along with the existence in the conservation field of inadequately trained professionals, has raised the need for efficient and properly trained conservation scientists.

All the participating institutions are systematically involved in the education, training and research in conservation at academic level as well as study of artworks and monuments in their own country. Some of them are scientific infrastructures directly interfaced to relevant European museums and conservation institutions responsible or engaged in the safeguarding of their national cultural heritage such as the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), the ELTE Eotvos Lorand University of Budapest (ELTE) with the Hungarian National Museum (HNM) and the Universities of Bologna (UNIBO) and Perugia (UNIPG) with the Istituto per la Conservazione e Valorizzazione dei Beni Culturali (ICVBC). This will ensure not only the quality and reliability of the programme, but also an easy and appropriate dissemination of knowledge.