Forbes Prize Lecture

The Forbes Prize Lecture has been delivered at every IIC Congress since the Rome Congress in 1961. It is delivered by a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of conservation; the first Forbes Prize lecture was given by Harold Plenderleith.

Recent Forbes Prize Lecturers have been Carol Mancusi-Ungaro (Los Angeles, 2016), Dr. Jixiang Shan (Hong Kong, 2014), Manfred Koller (Vienna 2012) and David Lowenthal (Istanbul, 2010). The full list of recipients can be read online and some of the lectures are available for download; we are in the process of digitising some of these lectures so they can be viewed at the IIC web-site.

This year IIC is pleased to announce the 2018 Forbes Prize Lecture will be delivered by Stefan Michalski, Senior Conservation Scientist at the Canadian Conservation Institute, who will be addressing the topic of preventive conservation from his own perspective. 

In response Stefan commented, "a whole new generation has emerged since IIC last addressed this key topic - key not just to conservation,  but to its many relationships with others inside and outside heritage. Those of us who introduced new tools and ideas 24 years ago - agents, risk, rational climate guidelines, sharing with indigenous communities - will reflect on what took root, what didn't. Those who were young then will champion themes we saw only vaguely - value, sustainability, stakeholders, the intangible - and those who are young now will, I truly hope, come and keep us not just honest and energetic, but relevant."