Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) has successfully hosted its second annual Plastics Innovation and Curation Research Centre (PlastIC) Symposium.
The international event on Wednesday 1 July 2026 welcomed researchers, conservators, designers, and industry partners from across the UK and overseas to tackle one of the modern era's most complex material challenges.
Under this year’s theme, What Plastics Leave Behind: Practice, Curation and Innovation, the symposium explored the multi-faceted role of plastics across heritage, contemporary design, and environmental futures.
AUB Vice-Chancellor and CEO, Lisa Mann, opened the event by situating the work of the PlastIC Research Centre within AUB’s new institutional strategy. She emphasised the University's ongoing commitment to creative excellence, entrepreneurial practice, and conducting research driven by a clear public purpose.
The afternoon’s programme featured a series of specialist presentations addressing the technical realities of managing polymer-based heritage. Experts including Dr Erato Kartaki, Fabiana Portoni, Dr Francesca Rosi, Dr Katherine Curran, and Dr Brenda Keneghan shared insights on plastic degradation, additive manufacturing, storage interactions, multimodal diagnostics, mathematical modelling, and conservation ethics.
Following the presentations, Professor Yaneidys Arencibia Coloma chaired an in-depth panel discussion. The panel brought these diverse threads together, emphasising an urgent need for shared data, cross-sector collaboration, and continued research into polymer lifecycles to protect unstable materials.
The symposium concluded with a poignant keynote lecture by Research Professor Yvonne Shashoua. A world-leading authority on plastic degradation from the National Museum of Denmark, Professor Shashoua seamlessly connected heritage science with global sustainability challenges, highlighting the critical development of new bio‑based materials.
Professor Christian McLening, Director of Research and Innovation at AUB and Director of the PlastIC Innovation and Curation Research Centre, comments on the significance of the event:
“Plastics are both the defining materials of modern life and some of our most complex material challenges. This symposium provides a vital platform to explore how we curate, conserve, and interpret polymer-based heritage, whilst driving forward critical conversations about sustainability and innovation in the plastic age.”
The symposium connects directly with the Cambridge Prisms: Plastics themed collection, which remains open for research submissions until 1 December 2026, as PlastIC continues to develop sector‑focused training and future research partnerships.
