International Workshop on Disaster Risk Management at World Heritage Properties

The Workshop, which took place on 6^th  and 7^th November 2008 in Olympia, Greece, was jointly organised by the World Heritage Centre and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with ICCROM and with a financial contribution from the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Mrs Marianna Vardinoyannis. It brought together participants from various regions of the world as well as experts in disaster risk management and representatives of concerned institutions.

Case studies were discussed and experiences shared with a view to learn lessons useful to strengthen the protection of World Heritage sites from risks associated to catastrophic events. Drawing from the lessons learned, the Workshop resulted in the development and launching of a Programme, to be implemented by UNESCO with its Member States, for reducing disaster risks at World Heritage properties (see the Proceedings of the Workshop as well as the Olympia Protocol for Disaster Risk Reduction at World Heritage properties).