The Conservation Division within Heritage Malta draws together professionals trained in the field of conservation and restoration. It applies a multidisciplinary approach which incorporates the processes of documentation, scientific investigation and conservation treatment of objects, buildings, monuments and sites.
The Conservation Division comprises the following sections:

Each conservation section undertakes conservation-restoration projects pertinent to the type of material/s and related manufacturing techniques it is individually responsible for. When the work under study is of a complex nature and constitutes composite materials, the relevant sections team up to converge their knowledge and experience.

The contribution of the Preventive Conservation Section, Diagnostic Science Laboratories and Documentation Section is indispensable in all the conservation-restoration projects that the Conservation Division embarks on. Like the other conservation sections, they too are assigned independent projects where, for instance, environmental monitoring, scientific analyses and/or graphic or photographic documentation may be solely required.

All sections continually liaise with the Institute for Conservation & Management of Cultural Heritage for the coordination and organization of conservation projects on a didactic basis, for the practical sessions forming part of the degree and vocational programmes, and other academic duties. They also run independent, and joint, research projects.

With research in the field of cultural heritage and conservation-restoration occupying a central position in the agenda of Heritage Malta, the modus operandi of the conservation staff is to strive towards encouraging and creating further avenues of research. Be they for their didactic nature, whereby undergraduate students actively participate to gain hands-on experience, sharpen their manual dexterity, see in action the application of theory to practice or be they of academic, artistic, historical value and especially of conservation interest, the conservation-restoration projects that the Conservation Division selectively undertakes are with a view to retaining research in its foremost position and to implement the research strategy of Heritage Malta, which is obviously in the wider national interest.

The Conservation Division is also entrusted with the mission to collaborate in the field of cultural heritage on an international level. This is activated by its involvement in a number of EU-funded projects directly and indirectly related to conservation and restoration in its broader bracket. Its collaboration with reputable international academic institutes of higher learning and well-established entities, including museums and research institutions, responsible for the management and preservation of cultural heritage, is part and parcel of its efforts to promote and place Heritage Malta on the international map. Moreover, by means of such collaboration, the conservation staff of Heritage Malta is given the opportunity to further its training abroad and also benefit from foreign specialized expertise in certain conservation-restoration projects. Through its participation in mobility programmes, the Conservation Division assumes an outreaching position therefore encouraging foreign under- and postgraduate students to enrich their educational experience through internships with the conservation sections.