U of Melb Cripps Inst Cultural Conservation win

Cripps Institute for Cultural Conservation wins global UNESCO award for innovative heritage education, University of Melbourne, 27 November 2025

L-R: Hernan Lopera Pineda, Laura Jane Delaney, Ameliah-Rose Tioriori, Lucinda Papas, Jiahe Yi, Danni Lin, Associate Professor Nicole Tse, Mollie Liu, Chuqing Huang, Zeejay Tan.

Researchers from The Cripps Institute for Cultural Conservation, at the Grimwade Centre, have been awarded the 2025 Global Award for World Heritage Education Innovative Case (AWHEIC) by UNESCO.

The award recognises the Institute’s project From Ashes to Stories: Innovative Heritage Education and Post-Fire Conservation at the See Yup Temple.

Led by the See Yup Society President Michael LAM, Associate Professor Nicole Tse, historian Dr Sophie Couchman, and students from the Masters of Cultural Materials Conservation Danni LIN and Mollie LIU, the project responded to a devastating 2024 fire at the See Yup Temple in South Melbourne, one of Victoria’s oldest and most significant Chinese-Australian heritage sites. The temple, founded in the mid-19th century, is both a place of worship and holds shared memories and cultural collections for generations of Chinese-Australians.

“We are deeply honoured to receive this award from AWHEIC UNESCO and grateful for the recognition of our work,” said Associate Professor Nicole Tse.

“Living heritage sites and collections can be rebuilt, interpreted, and revitalised through interdisciplinary, and community-centered innovation..”

An interdisciplinary and collaborative team of professional conservators, historians, heritage architects, and Heritage Victoria conducted detailed surveys of the fire affected heritage collections, supported by Grimwade Centre conservation students and trained volunteers who assisted with documentation, collection recovery, fund raising, and public engagement activities.

Using oral histories, community-sourced knowledge and experiences, and disaster collection processes, the team recovered fire-damaged materials and are reconstructing fire damaged spiritual collections, preserving both the temple’s material and intangible heritage.

‘The Cripps Institute’s See Yup Temple project exemplifies the future of heritage education, where science, community, and culture intersect to create meaningful, resilient responses to crisis,’ noted by the AWHEIC Working Group.

‘This case stood out for its integration of conservation practice with inclusive education and cross-cultural dialogue. It offers a powerful, globally relevant model for how communities reimagine of living heritage sites.’

Michael Lam and President of the See Yup Temple restoration project said “This has been a fruitful collaboration with mutual benefits for the See Yup Temple and conservation education having involved the Grimwade Centre in the documentation, relocation and assessment of environmental risks as part of subject learning and volunteer placements, and collection research,”

“Now that the fire affected objects are safely stored, The See Yup Temple aims to bring the spiritually significant collections to life through their restoration, repair and return to the temple, and we look forward to our ongoing collaboration with the Grimwade Centre. This is critically important to the See Yup Temple, its members and wider Asian Australian community.”

Professor Robyn Sloggett AM, Director of the Cripps Institute for Cultural Conservation, said: “This award recognises the extraordinary work of our students, staff, and community partners in responding with care and creativity to a devastating moment in our shared heritage.”

*Support for the See Yup Temple has been provided by the State Government of Victoria, and Heritage Victoria and the National Trust of Australia (Victoria)