The National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage (CACH) during the past three years (2016-2018) carried out a Joint Research Project on “Assessment of innovative methods for the conservation of earthen surface”. The project was carried out by the Institute for the Conservation and Valorization of Cultural Heritage (ICVBC) of the CNR that since 1st October 2019 was suppressed to join the new Institute of Heritage Science (ISPC-CNR). The ISPC deals with the study of the conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage with a multidisciplinary approach, which take advantage of scientific methods and new technologies together with historical and social aspects. This book, in addition to contributing to the dissemination of knowledge of earth architecture in China and Italy, examines the conservation techniques used in the respective countries and the researches that are being carried out to improve these interventions in order to make them more durable and compatible with a material as delicate as earth. The new opportunities that the earth architecture can have in future in the two countries are also illustrated.

Ultimately, this book is an attempt to bridge the gap between the science applied to Cultural Heritage and the real meaning of the so-called “cultural asset”. Cultural heritage is the result of sensitivity, thought, expectations and skill of men and women stratified over the centuries who, with their identities and personalities, have built the reality in which we live today and with the help of science we want to contribute to its preservation.