[Nhcoll-l] Conservation Department at stake-PLEASE HELP

[Ilianna Delianidou]

CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT AT STAKE

The future of the Department for the Protection and Conservation of
Cultural Heritage of the Technological Educational Institute of the Ionian
Islands is currently at stake. We need everybody's help to keep the school
running. Please help us by signing the petition at
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/greek-conservation-department-at-stake/
and by forwarding this e-mail to your friends, colleagues and conservation
students.

The department, located on the island of Zakynthos (Zante) was founded in
2008 as the second only tertiary educational institute in Greece offering
an undergraduate conservation course for the much needed attention of our
rich cultural heritage.
The department in its short history has managed to establish a superbly
equipped conservation unit in state-of-the-art facilities, able to support
the training of students in six purpose-built labs in a recently
inaugurated building. The four year program
offers<http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/greek-conservation-department-at-stake/#>
training
on the conservation of organic, inorganic and modern materials.
Our analytical laboratories are better equipped than most conservation
facilities in the country and include XRF, XRD, Raman Spectroscopy, GC-MS
Chromatography, FTIR, Laser Cleaner, etc, able to conduct high standard
conservation research, promoting the science and conservation of artifacts
internationally.
However, the Greek Ministry of Education, has struck our department
unjustly and without reasoning and by the end of the academic year it will
be shut down, leading our staff to immediate unemployment and hundreds of
students without a future to their studies.
The closure of our department is yet another strike towards the
conservation profession. In the last years, courses throughout Europe are
being shut, the level of training is compromised and jobs in museums,
libraries and institutions are being cut down fiercely, jeopardizing the
future of our cultural heritage.
We need your help<http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/greek-conservation-department-at-stake/#>
and
hopefully through this petition to prevent the closure of this important
academic institution and to
help<http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/greek-conservation-department-at-stake/#>
the
future of conservation training in Greece.

We are also asking universities, museums and organisations related to
conservation or culture in general, for letters of support towards our
institution.

Letters should be directed to the following address:
Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of the Ionian Islands
Department of Protection and Conservation of Cultural Heritage
Panagoula 29100
Zakynthos island, Greece

with kind regards,
the educational staff and students of the Department

-- 
*Ilona Ilianna Delianidou*
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