Call For Applications: International Training Course on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage 2017

The Institute of Disaster Mitigation for Urban Cultural Heritage, Ritsumeikan University Kyoto, Japan, is organizing the 12^th International Training Course on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage in Japan, from 28 August to 16 September, under the UNESCO Chair Programme on Cultural Heritage and Risk Management, in cooperation with UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOMOS/ICORP and ICOM and supported by the Japanese National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH).

Cultural heritage is increasingly exposed to disasters caused by natural and human induced hazards. Recent examples include the earthquakes in central Italy and Myanmar in 2016, and the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Yemen. These disasters not only affect the immovable heritage components such as monuments, archaeological sites and historic urban areas, but also cause damage to movable components including museum collections and heritage objects. This calls for the development of an integrated approach for movable and immovable heritage for risk assessment of heritage sites as well as museums and its collections before, during, and after a disaster situation.  Limited availability of human and financial resources also calls for closer coordination between professionals and institutions dealing with heritage sites, museums and the external agencies.

In light of these issues and challenges, the 12^th International Training Course will give special focus on the Integrated Protection of Immovable and Movable Cultural Heritage from Disasters.

The course’s interdisciplinary training will equip participants to:

• Undertake an integrated risk assessment of tangible and intangible, immovable and movable cultural heritage by analyzing their vulnerability to disasters caused by natural and human induced hazards;
• Build an integrated system for disaster risk management of cultural heritage, incorporating prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery measures;
• Formulate disaster risk management plans for cultural heritage that correspond to the local / urban and regional disaster management and development plans and policies and humanitarian response and recovery mechanisms;
• Learn practical tools, methodologies and skills for disaster risk management of cultural heritage such as cost benefit analysis, value assessment, budgeting and communication methods with decision makers such as mayors.
• Reinforce the international scientific support network in order to build the institutional capacity needed to formulate comprehensive disaster risk management plans that are based on the characteristics of cultural heritage and nature of hazards in the national and regional context.

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