Challenges in Stone Heritage Conservation

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit research manuscripts concerning technologies and approaches applied to stone heritage decay conservation and management.

The conservation of our historical stone heritage requires studies on the mineralogical and chemical composition of the building lithotypes used during construction and/or restoration, the environment surrounding the stone monument, and the microclimatic conditions affecting a specific lithotype in the building. All materials exposed to outdoor conditions are inevitably subject to deterioration processes leading to biotic and abiotic alterations. The knowledge of the decay processes, and of the mechanisms governing these processes, depend on the intrinsic properties of the material to be studied as well as the external agents of decay. This knowledge will allow a rational use of these materials and to anticipate their behavior beforehand, in order to be able to plan the correct restoration and conservation actions.

This Special Issue aims to collect research articles and reviews on original and innovative research regarding applications, methodologies, case studies and reviews on new technologies and analytical methodologies dedicated to supporting the monitoring, preservation and sustainable development/management of stone heritage monuments and artefacts. Moreover, we encourage the submission of manuscripts dealing with the assessment and evaluation of stone heritage exposed to global environmental change.

In particular, topics may include (but are not limited to) the following research areas:

• Stone heritage: physical, chemical and biological weathering processes in changing environmental conditions.
• Innovative multi-analytical approaches applied to stone heritage research.
• Underwater stone heritage: challenges and solutions.
• Management and sustainable development in stone heritage.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Nick Schiavon
Prof. Dr. Mauro Francesco La Russa
Prof. Dr. Patricia Sanmartín
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.