What is Risk Management for Collections?

Risk management is an integral part of the decision-making process for organizational stewardship. It is especially useful for those responsible for the care, survival, and accessibility of our cultural heritage. Risk Management for Collections is a strategy developed by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, or RCE). The RCE strategy identifies, analyzes, and evaluates risks to collections.

The Risk Management for Collections program concentrates on the further development of a user-friendly method of risk management. This program will make this method accessible to and provide attendees with the necessary information so that small organizations with limited resources may conduct risk assessments and manage relevant risks.

Why should you register?

The tools of a Risk Management approach rank and set priorities to reduce loss of value and manage the real threats to a collection using the QuickScan and ABC Method. The program will support collection managers in making well-balanced decisions about the allocation of collection care resources and communicating needs with stakeholders.

These workshops will teach you how to apply value-based and risk-based decision making to achieve sustainable conservation and preservation actions in your collections. It is suitable for anyone working in the museum field, including collection managers, archivists, librarians, curators, educators, conservators, building managers, historic preservation officers, and administrators.

Who will be there?

Dr. Bart Ankersmit is a Senior Researcher at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands in Amsterdam (RCE). After receiving his Doctorate in Inorganic Chemistry, Ankersmit started working at the RCE in 1996. His work began with a four-year EU project on the preventive conservation of silver artifacts and has shifted to managing risks to collections. In 2009, Ankersmit published the new climate guidelines for Dutch museums, Managing Indoor Climate Risks, in which a decision-making process was presented that balances the value of the building and the objects with climate risks to find an optimal mitigation strategy. An updated and translated version was released in 2016.

Renate van Leijen is the Advisor of Safe Heritage at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands in Amsterdam (RCE). The Safe Heritage program at the RCE focuses on risk and crisis management, emergency planning, incident registration, and collection assistance with special attention given to awareness and prevention. They share information, develop products and services with and for the heritage managers, heritage advisors, and directors.

Click here to learn more!

The statements and opinions expressed by panelists, hosts, attendees, or other participants of this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of, nor are endorsed by, the American Alliance of Museums.