The training aimed to strengthen the capacity of BCO staff in conservation methods and approaches by means of sharing in the knowledge of best practices in conservation actions that are currently being implemented at Angkor Wat for the German Government funded conservation project, which can then be adapted and used within their work at Borobudur.   Three conservation staff from BCO – Puji Santosa, Heri Yulianto, and Basuki Rahmad – joined this training, as they are responsible for conducting daily conservation work at the Borobudur Temple Compounds.  The Head of the Borobudur Conservation Office, Mr. Marsis Sutopo, also conducted a monitoring visit during the course of training program and joined the activities from 29 - 30 November 2015 while from UNESCO Office Jakarta, Ms. Diana Setiawati, Project Coordinator for Borobudur participated and facilitated the first half of the training during 16-21 November 2015.

The in-situ training was facilitated by the Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences (CICS), which currently runs conservation works at Angkor Wat, a World Heritage site in Southeast Asia requiring significant conservation works. The works and studies being conducted in this region, particularly on the German ASPARA Conservation Project (GACP), were selected as prime conservation examples for their ability to showcase best practices currently in action and to demonstrate their efficacy; thus enhancing the capacity of BCO professional staff and allowing them to adapt and apply these practices to their work at Borobudur Temple. During the visit, Professor Dr. Hans Leisen, Dr. Esther von Plehwe-Leisen, and Emmeline Decker led the GACP team in delivering site training and field sessions for the benefit of BCO staff. The training included site visits, lectures, and in-situ practical application training.

The site visits were conducted in coordination with APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap), where the team was provided access and opportunities to visit a series of temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park – namely, Ta Keo, Lolei, Preah Ko, Bakong, Bantey Srei, Kbal Spean, Koh Ker, and Beng Melea. Through the visit to these temples, the group was able to observe various conservation techniques being applied at the sites, as well as their associated challenges.  The visit also allowed knowledge of best practices in temple conservation to be shared, while at the same time strengthening cooperation between the German ASPARA Conservation Project and the German funded project at Borobudur. Besides site visits, the team also joined classes hosted by the GACP experts, which focused on cases of stone weathering and related decay problems. The classes were very interactive and were joined by more than 25 participants, including UNESCO Office Jakarta staff, GACP experts, BCO staff, and local GACP staff. In the practical session, the group worked together with local conservators and were supervised by the GACP experts in order to conduct a thorough mapping of deterioration patterns; and to practice cleaning, pointing, and gluing methods at the GACP work sites in Angkor Wat and Takeo temples. Puji Santosa, one of the training participants from BCO, expressed his gratitude for being given the opportunity to join such a beneficial and informative training. ”This is very useful for me as one of the Borobudur conservators, as we know more about various conservation techniques being applied outside Borobudur, understand more about the challenges, and [are] also exposed to a more structured conservation documentation that we hopefully can adopt in Borobudur.”

The training is part of a series of training and capacity-building activities to be completed in 2015 under the generous support of the Government of Germany. Besides this activity, under the project framework, UNESCO Office Jakarta had previously arranged missions for 6 German experts at the Borobudur Temple Compounds in September 2015, where they conducted capacity-building for BCO staff through new analysis techniques, new equipment in the laboratory and on-site, as well as through providing training for heritage professionals and community members via the Conservation Exchange Workshop.