Risk management as a strategy for the preservation of cultural heritage in sciences and health

Book excerpt: This publication aims to share the work process and main results of the pilot cycle in the implementation of risk management for the cultural heritage of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). The initiative was coordinated by Casa de Oswaldo Cruz (COC) through an interdisciplinary Working Group and enjoyed the collaboration of other technical and scientific units of the institution, especially the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC) and the Institute of Scientific and Technological Communication and Information in Health (ICICT). Since the preventive approach is still not a consolidated reality in the Brazilian context, our objective in publishing this book is to contribute to the dissemination of risk management by reporting a real-world experience that involved various stakeholders, analyzing the main work stages, difficulties, and strategies employed in the process. The ABC Method for cultural heritage risk management, developed by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) with the collaboration of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), was chosen by the group for conducting its work. The method is relatively complex and there are few examples to date of published Brazilian case studies.