Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GREENART (GREen ENdeavor in Art ResToration)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-10-01 al 2023-12-31
Cultural Heritage (CH) must be maintained, well preserved and accessible, counteracting degradation often enhanced by climate changes. Traditional materials and methodologies in conservation lack durability, sustainability and cost-effectiveness, or are based on energy-consuming processes or non-environmentally friendly materials. GREENART proposes new solutions, based on green and sustainable materials and methods, and on the elaboration of advanced tools, to preserve, conserve and restore CH and boost its socioeconomic driving force on a full European scale.
This approach will be followed to grant that the new GREENART materials be more effective than traditional tools, provide durable remediation of degraded artefacts, and adhere to the principles of green chemistry supported by the Green Deal, which will be assured by Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost analyses. The best candidates will be assessed by expert conservators on representative mock-ups and actual masterpieces, and disseminated to the scientific, industrial and art conservation communities, aiming to create new standards in remedial and preventive conservation.
Such a large-scale sustainable approach in art conservation is unprecedented to the best of our knowledge.
Overall, the new solutions will be grouped in five families of products:
1. Cleaning systems.
2. Protective coatings.
3. Consolidants.
4. Packaging materials.
5. Solutions for monitoring CH assets.
Finally, our last goal is to make the research, products and know-how developed in GREENART accessible to the scientific and art conservation communities, to the industry, and to the civil society through the engagement of citizens and end-users.
This approach will be followed to grant that the new GREENART materials be more effective than traditional tools, provide durable remediation of degraded artefacts, and adhere to the principles of green chemistry supported by the Green Deal, which will be assured by Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost analyses. The best candidates will be assessed by expert conservators on representative mock-ups and actual masterpieces, and disseminated to the scientific, industrial and art conservation communities, aiming to create new standards in remedial and preventive conservation.
Such a large-scale sustainable approach in art conservation is unprecedented to the best of our knowledge.
Overall, the new solutions will be grouped in five families of products:
1. Cleaning systems.
2. Protective coatings.
3. Consolidants.
4. Packaging materials.
5. Solutions for monitoring CH assets.
Finally, our last goal is to make the research, products and know-how developed in GREENART accessible to the scientific and art conservation communities, to the industry, and to the civil society through the engagement of citizens and end-users.
Over the first project year, GREENART has progressed in line with the proposal’s objectives, achieving key-results:
1) Several green fluids and gels for the cleaning of works of art have been produced. Tests on mock-ups and actual works of art, using the materials developed in the first year, have started and are continuing through the project, with convincing results. Case studies have been identified and set by conservator partners/institutions.
2) The synthesis of green protective coatings starting with passive coatings. Several protective systems have been formulated, characterized, and partly assessed with good results, covering multifunctional coatings produced with different components. Case studies have been identified and set by conservator partners/institutions.
3) The formulation of green hybrids and functional materials as consolidants to strengthen aged works of art or as packaging to facilitate their storage/transport. Several systems have been produced, characterized, and partly assessed, with good results. Case studies have been identified and set by conservator partners/institutions.
4) The development of green tech sensors. Characterization and sensing properties of new humidity, temperature, and VOCs monitoring tech has progressed with good results. Natural and bio-based substrates for the sensors have been produced. Validation and testing protocols for the new sensors in real museum/collections environment have been proposed.
5) First chemical safety assessment over the new products, comprising a report on the chemical safety, as well as suggestions for improvements when needed. The work considered the European landscape on chemicals strategy for sustainability, and the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework.
1) Several green fluids and gels for the cleaning of works of art have been produced. Tests on mock-ups and actual works of art, using the materials developed in the first year, have started and are continuing through the project, with convincing results. Case studies have been identified and set by conservator partners/institutions.
2) The synthesis of green protective coatings starting with passive coatings. Several protective systems have been formulated, characterized, and partly assessed with good results, covering multifunctional coatings produced with different components. Case studies have been identified and set by conservator partners/institutions.
3) The formulation of green hybrids and functional materials as consolidants to strengthen aged works of art or as packaging to facilitate their storage/transport. Several systems have been produced, characterized, and partly assessed, with good results. Case studies have been identified and set by conservator partners/institutions.
4) The development of green tech sensors. Characterization and sensing properties of new humidity, temperature, and VOCs monitoring tech has progressed with good results. Natural and bio-based substrates for the sensors have been produced. Validation and testing protocols for the new sensors in real museum/collections environment have been proposed.
5) First chemical safety assessment over the new products, comprising a report on the chemical safety, as well as suggestions for improvements when needed. The work considered the European landscape on chemicals strategy for sustainability, and the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework.
GREENART produces three fundamental advancements in CH conservation:
1) The new materials and methodologies will substitute traditional benchmarks that have scarce sustainability or pose ecotoxicological risks. GREENART is establishing new green and unprecedented standards for art conservation.
2) GREENART fully addresses climate change-induced damage to CH in two ways: (1) producing green and sustainable solutions that (2) preserve CH against degradation induced by environmental factors and effects of natural disasters.
3) The new materials are developed in a universally valid scientific framework (colloids, materials science) and SSbD, to develop materials useful beyond CH preservation, e.g.: in food industry (packaging), detergency/cosmetics (gels, cleaning fluids), tissue engineering (gels for wound care, tissue regeneration), pharmaceutics/drug-delivery (controlled release of actives from confining networks), plant management (coatings against corrosion), security industry (sensing tools).
This is a breakthrough since traditionally art conservation borrowed solutions from industrial sectors, while GREENART is fostering the opposite trend. Developing bio-inspired/biomimetic solutions, GREENART fosters socioeconomic "re-growth", i.e. expanding the community’s productive capacity without altering the community’s ecosystems equilibria, maintaining/improving welfare standards previously achieved by less sustainable means.
Key needs to ensure uptake and success of the new solutions are:
1) Further research in the project to keep implementing the sustainability and efficacy of the new materials.
2) Extensive demonstration at European/global scale to conservators, curators, and policy makers, taking advantage of the expertise of SSH partners in the project.
3) IPR support, supportive regulatory and standardisation framework to allow patenting/trademarks on the new solutions.
4) Internationalisation, access to markets and finance, targeted in the project by bringing some conservation materials up to TRL 9 and commercialisation.
1) The new materials and methodologies will substitute traditional benchmarks that have scarce sustainability or pose ecotoxicological risks. GREENART is establishing new green and unprecedented standards for art conservation.
2) GREENART fully addresses climate change-induced damage to CH in two ways: (1) producing green and sustainable solutions that (2) preserve CH against degradation induced by environmental factors and effects of natural disasters.
3) The new materials are developed in a universally valid scientific framework (colloids, materials science) and SSbD, to develop materials useful beyond CH preservation, e.g.: in food industry (packaging), detergency/cosmetics (gels, cleaning fluids), tissue engineering (gels for wound care, tissue regeneration), pharmaceutics/drug-delivery (controlled release of actives from confining networks), plant management (coatings against corrosion), security industry (sensing tools).
This is a breakthrough since traditionally art conservation borrowed solutions from industrial sectors, while GREENART is fostering the opposite trend. Developing bio-inspired/biomimetic solutions, GREENART fosters socioeconomic "re-growth", i.e. expanding the community’s productive capacity without altering the community’s ecosystems equilibria, maintaining/improving welfare standards previously achieved by less sustainable means.
Key needs to ensure uptake and success of the new solutions are:
1) Further research in the project to keep implementing the sustainability and efficacy of the new materials.
2) Extensive demonstration at European/global scale to conservators, curators, and policy makers, taking advantage of the expertise of SSH partners in the project.
3) IPR support, supportive regulatory and standardisation framework to allow patenting/trademarks on the new solutions.
4) Internationalisation, access to markets and finance, targeted in the project by bringing some conservation materials up to TRL 9 and commercialisation.