The motivation to dedicate a volume of the Conservation 360° series to education and pedagogy arose during the COVID years 2020 and 2021, when conservation-restoration teachers were forced to suddenly change the format of their lessons. In Europe, an informal and international group called AcCESS (Academic Conservation Education Sharing Site) was formed to share and support each other on how to teach online. It was soon realized that the challenges associated with the curriculum were larger and deeper than the shift from face-to-face to online format. It was also realized that the literature available both at the level of curriculum structure and at the level of classroom didactics was sparse, and that teachers mostly relied on their experience as students, personal contacts with other teachers, or general didactic publications not related to the field of conservation-restoration.

The present volume aims to fill this gap by collecting reflections and experiences on the evolution of the curriculum and its role in defining the profession, and by tracing important changes in the education of conservators-restorers, both in terms of the decolonization of the discipline and the role of curricula in addressing societal and environmental challenges such as climate change.

This monograph has been awarded the CEA/APQ Quality Seal for Academic Publishing in 2024.