February 5, 2026

11th Agent of Deterioration in Collections: Incorrect Cultural Care

Organized by NCPH’s Professional Development Committee

The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) has adopted ten Agents of Deterioration—the ten biggest threats to heritage objects and collections, including physical threats like fire or water and human threats like failures of organizational systems over time—which have been widely adopted by collections specialists and conservators across the world. Melanie Deer is leading a group of international and intercultural representatives to propose an 11th Agent: Incorrect Cultural Care. In this presentation, Melanie will go over the project and concept behind this 11th agent and how it fits with the others. There will then be time for an interactive discussion.

This virtual event will be held February 17, 2026, 6:00 pm Eastern.

Register for the event here: https://community.ncph.org/event/CollectionsCulturalCare

This event uses our “pay what you can” model, which allows us to design programming for all members of our community regardless of their financial status; if you can afford to select one of the paid registration tiers, we are deeply grateful for your support in subsidizing free registrations for those who need it most.