Introduc-
tion and Objectives

Since the last century, technical and industrial development has drastically changed the economic scope of the European society. Numerous technical equipment like manufacturing machines, plants in traditional industrial areas, iron work buildings or building parts or mining equipment has had a tremendous impact on people’s social life. However, large parts of these industries are no longer used or closed down today. Outstanding examples of these more or less complex iron and steel objects have to be regarded as important witnesses of our cultural and technical history, worth being preserved and integrated into the local context.

Some of the European industrial heritage has been approved by the UNESCO as World Cultural Heritage. Examples are the mining areas of Voelklingen (Voelklinger Huette) and Rammelsberg in Germany, industrial areas or sites in Great Britain such as Ironbridge, Blaenavon, Derwent Valley or Saltaire, or the salt-mine in Wieliczka, Poland. Also mining areas in Luxembourg or Belgium have to be seen in a very close connection to the industrial sites in Voelklingen and in the German Ruhr Area, leading to a common cultural heritage zone beyond national borders.

Previous work in the field of metal conservation had been concentrated on the restoration of small devices or life-sized monuments. Regarding the exploitation of larger industrial monuments, mainly management strategies known for museums were discussed.
New preservation strategies are requested for large outdoor monuments, being heavily corroded and mechanically endangered.

The project CONSIST will concentrate on the comparative testing of established traditional, modern, and within the project developed new conservation materials and preservation strategies for industrial heritage made of iron and steel. The conservation material development will respect standards set by conservation ethics, focussing on the reversibility and re-treatability of water-based transparent coatings.
Pilot objects in Germany, Poland and Ireland will be in the centre of interest.
Furthermore, different concepts for the sustainable exploitation of industrial monuments after preservation and a better accessibility of the public have to be evaluated, e. g. the utilisation as technical museum park or as public centre for cultural events or expositions.

The project team consists of five contractors and several subcontractors, including research institutes, universities, public authorities and a strong participation of SMEs (restoration workshops).

	A specific targeted research project supported by the European Commission Priority 8.1: Policy-orientated research Contract No. 513706 Duration: June 2005 - May 2008
	© 2005 Consist