The Third Degree EDUCATION & TRAINING FOR CONSERVATION by Roger France In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of courses available for the study of building conservation and urban conservation. One reason for this may be the post-war decline in knowledge of traditional building and craft techniques. More certainly, though, another is the advent of legislation to protect historic buildings and areas from decay and development. The United Kingdom Institute for Conservation (UKIC) lists fifty nine courses, but most of these are for the conservation of artefacts for museums and works of art. It became apparent in the 1960's that a gap existed in the syllabuses of schools of architecture with respect to historic buildings. A sub-committee of the RIBA Education Committee was formed under the chairmanship of Sir Bernard Feilden to supplement the output of the two established full-time courses at the Universities of Manchester and York. This committee was known as the Conference on Training in Architectural Conservation (COT AC), and is now under the chairmanship of Dr Vivian Lipman. It initiated the part-time courses at the Architectural Association, Leicester Polytechnic and Liverpool Polytechnic. Other courses are represented on COT AC and the combined output is approximately 91 students per year (Table 1). Another 20-30 students per year are produced by other courses. It is interesting to compare these figures with those of new entrants to the environmental professions Table 1 Most courses are small, having developed through the initiatives and enthusizsms of their directors, and often they have to compete with the financial and staff resources of parent departments. Architectural conservation is a practically-based subject and the content of courses often relies heavily on visiting specialists; this can be particularly difficult when there is no financial independence. Continuing Professional Development -------- A new feature of practice in the environmental professions is the move towards continuing professional development. The three main environmental professions have now evolved their own guidelines as shown in Table 2. These figures are at a general level; they include all the contributory disciplines to surveying (such as quantity surveying) and do not take into account those in architectural practice who have not joined RIBA. Neither do they account for the many people who contribute to the practice of conservation as archaeologists, historians or geographers. Clearly it would be useful for such refinements to be made. If we compare the annual output of qualified conservationist with the total membership of the three professional institutes (118,154) we arrive at a percentage of approximately 0.1 % . In other words, the percentage increase in qualified conservationists is Table showing full-time and part-time graduate courses in conservation 1988 Award Mode Size(p.yr) Length (Yrs) Course Characteristics Director 1. RIBA/COTAC Courses leading to qualifications 1.1 Established Courses (1) Manchester University (1965) MA flt 4 1 Vernacular emphasis Or R Brunskill pit 4 2 (2) York University (1972) MA fit 25 2 Overseas links and Dr D Linstrum pit nil 3(s) shortcourses 1.2 COTAC COURSES (1) Architectural Association AA Grad. pit 15 3 Unsubsidised Dr Bristow 0ipL Cons. (2) LeicesterPolytechnic D1pl pit 8' 2 DrJ S Curl 1.3 Other Courses (1) Bristol University (1979) OipL p/t 22 21 ·2 B Lane (2) Herriot Watt University (1979) MSc. fit 8 1 CMcWHliam (3) Oxford Polytechnic (1980) D;p1.Pig. fit 7 1 Planning & Design R France (RTPI) (Subtotal for 1) appx. 91 2. Other Courses 2.1 Middlesex Polytechnic (1975) MA pit 8' 2 Policy Dr Newby 2.2 Thames Polytechnic (1987) MA pit 8" 2 Building Rehabilitation Dr Raftery 2.3 Edinburgh University (1988) MSc. fit 6 1 Cultural Resource D McMullen Management (Subtotal for 2) appx. 22 Total: appx. 113 students/year with 85 to UK practice * Asterix decides assumed number 21
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