Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage in Urban Areas
A Training Guide
One of the key objectives of organising this type of course is building a resource bank of research on the subject and constructing a robust international scientific network to build institutional capacity over an extended period of time. This may be achieved by ensuring that such courses are organised as a part of a long-term strategy of capacity building. Some possibilities for integrating the course with other strategies have been listed below:
Disaster Risk Preparedness and Management, UNESCO World Heritage Site of Berat, Albania organsied by UNESCO and ICCROM
Read More...ICOMOS-ICORP E-Learning Course on “Protection of Syria’s Cultural Heritage in the times of Armed Conflict” organised in cooperation with ICCROM and DGAM Syria
Read More...Before introducing the subject matter to participants it is important to orient them to the objectives and methodology of the course and also enable interaction between participants and resource persons. This may be done through an orientation session facilitated by the course coordinators and instructors, briefly introducing the organisers, objectives and structure of the course while also discussing what expectations the participants have about the course.
Ice-breaking exercises may be organised in order to ensure that participants not only are introduced but also feel comfortable in each other’s company. The orientation session can also address logistical concerns that participants may have. This is especially important in the case of courses that cater to an international audience.
Participants who are unfamiliar with the host organisation or host country’s cultural aspects may benefit from this type of session. Informal interaction should be encouraged at this stage so that participants are receptive to team exercises through the length of the course. Finally during this session, an opportunity should be provided to the participants to make brief presentations on the cultural heritage and disaster management context in their home countries and the challenges and initiatives for disaster risk management of cultural heritage.
Disaster Risk Preparedness and Management, UNESCO World Heritage Site of Berat, Albania
Organsied by UNESCO and ICCROM
Duration: 19 – 24 November, 2011 (5 days on site) | 6 months (Mentorship, offsite) | 3 days (concluding workshop, on site)
The workshop was developed through a participatory methodology and upon the newly issued Resource Manual for Managing Disaster Risks for World Heritage - which focused on one specific approach to the principles, methodology and process for managing disaster risks at cultural and natural World Heritage properties.
Special focus was devoted to risk preparedness for earthquakes and fires, through the participation of highly qualified international experts on such fields of expertise. The objectives were to raise awareness among professionals and responsible agencies for the need to develop appropriate disaster risk management plans, to raise capacity in developing appropriate regimes of risk management in major cultural sites of Albania and to lay the groundwork for the development of a disaster risk management plan in selected cultural sites that could act as a model for other sites both in Albania and in the whole region.
The workshop intended to bring together heritage professionals from Albania and provide them with knowledge on current thinking, methods and tools available for the preparation of disaster risk management plans. This was done through team work exercises that formed the basis for further developing a site management plan by the respective site management authorities. This plan was scheduled to be delivered and presented on the occasion of the final workshop on disaster risk preparedness and management in cultural sites scheduled in Albania in spring 2012.
Trainees were able to rely on adequate coaching support after the end of the training and were presented with a certificate of attendance upon delivery of a draft framework of a management plan on risk preparedness.
ICOMOS-ICORP E-Learning Course on "Protection of Syria's Cultural Heritage in the times of Armed Conflict"
Organised in cooperation with ICCROM and DGAM Syria, 7-8 January 2013
During extended periods of armed conflict, it becomes difficult for the international community and experts to know the extent of damage to cultural heritage on the ground and plan for an emergency response. These types of conflict also make it difficult for international experts to participate in the recovery and also to prevent further damage. In such difficult situations, information technology and new media can be harnessed by the international community for building the capacity of heritage managers to monitor and plan for an emergency response.
In 2012 ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness (ICORP) planned a programme for the protection of cultural heritage in Syria during the ongoing conflict in the country, which permitted gathering information and creating a database of damaged heritage sites and an exchange of information and knowledge between Syrian professionals and international experts.
