52 Conserving, connecting, communicating Improving public engagement with conservation KEYWORDS: Social media; Young Conservators; networking; conservation; public engagement In 2018 over a coffee some students from the Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences decided it was time to close the gap between the public perception of conservators and actual work and training. Therefore, we started the social media project “Young Conservators” to show that conservation is not just about making things beautiful and new again. Since then, a lot has happened: We post regularly on the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Our account grew with us as we graduated from university. In our posts, we give insights into our training and the diverse tasks and projects of conservation students and young professionals. Focusing on scientific examinations and conservation methods, we spread our passion and connect with the international network of conservators. We provide a platform for international conservation students and young professionals to share their projects. Our aim is to contribute to a better understanding of conservation and draw attention to the relevance of conservation work for society. In our talk we will present our experiences of more than four years of social media work. During our journey on Instagram alone we developed from a small account to more than 4000 followers with an international network – cooperating with institutions, the conservators in training from the Austrian and German association of conservators-restorers, universities and journals, and give workshops on how to use social media for emerging conservators. With our talk we provide insights into our experiences, ranging from how to decide which platform to use, the different needs and benefits of each, to set up an efficient work flow and how to reach out to new followers. We will also give realistic insight on how much time is needed to maintain social media accounts, what pitfalls there are and how to overcome them and how others can benefit from our network and cooperations. Public engagement is getting more and more important within the conservation field and we aim to enable and encourage emerging conservators to work with social media - whether starting your own account or using our existing structures. youngconservators[at]outlooyoungconservators[at]outlook.de
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