What COTAC does

Formed in 1959, the Council's 21st century Objectives are to advance the education and training of all those involved in the protection and preservation of the historic environment that is of cultural, architectural or historical value, and to provide knowledge in support of training and education in the arts and skills required to protect and preserve it.

To advance conservation education and training and support its knowledge base, COTAC will adopt an integrated lay, craft, specialist and professional approach, whilst engaging with a wide range of interested parties to achieve its aims.

By following the links in the Menu, you will also find details of COTAC's other related work, reports and conferences on conservation matters.

New digital approaches to understanding and managing information present challenges to the built heritage sector. COTAC is helping to address these challenges through accessible, structured self-learning resources freely available on the COTAC website.

To help explain the structure and approach of these resources, Barry Bridgwood MCIAT has authored an article originally published by CIAT titled Connecting knowledge, technology and conservation: Building competence for the future of built heritage which can be found in the Resource library section on the CIAT website.

The article describes how the programme is based on the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) 14-point Education and Training Guidelines, and allows learners to begin with an understanding of why heritage matters, develop awareness of conservation challenges and progress toward more informed professional engagement.