Conservation and management challenges in a public-private partnership for a large archaeological site (Herculaneum, Italy)

The Herculaneum Conservation Project is an innovative public/private
initiative to safeguard and conserve, to enhance, and to advance the
knowledge, understanding and public appreciation of the archaeological site of
Herculaneum, Italy. Jane Thompson has been the project manager of the
Herculaneum Conservation Project since the Packard Humanities Institute
founded the project in 2001. Her presentation will trace how this
collaborative venture was created and how it continues to evolve as a response
to the widespread and exponential decay that years of neglect had created in
the archaeological site, as well as the financial, methodological and
operational difficulties the public heritage authority faces in overcoming
them. The innovative route adopted will be outlined together with its
particular operational advantages, primarily that of allowing a mixed
public/private project team to launch the urgent remedial measures and
establish the sustainable conservation strategies and maintenance models
required to ensure Herculaneum does not die for a second time. After exploring
the particular project management approaches adopted and briefly outlining
what has been achieved to date, she will discusses the management challenges
which remain to ensure good conservation practice continues beyond the
lifetime of the project. The presentation will close with an analysis of the
potential of the project, both as a public/private partnership model for site
conservation and enhancement re-applicable elsewhere and as a catalyst for
wider improvements in the urban and cultural landscape surrounding Herculaneum
itself.

Jane Thompson (MA Cantab ARB MAPM), who is project manager in the Herculaneum Conservation Project and has worked as an architect in major urbanism and heritage projects in the UK and Italy.