International Course: Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage

The Institute of Disaster Mitigation for Urban Cultural Heritage, Ritsumeikan University Kyoto, Japan, is organizing the 13^th International Training Course on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage in Kyoto and Kobe, Japan, from 29 August to 19 September 2018, under the UNESCO Chair Programme on Cultural Heritage and Risk Management, in cooperation with UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOM and ICOMOS/ICORP. Cultural heritage is increasingly exposed to disasters caused by natural and human induced hazards. Recent examples include the earthquakes in central Mexico in 2017, 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 that are in active use such as religious and other artefacts of significance to the local community. 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 13^th International Training Course will place special emphasis 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.

The target audience of the course includes professional staff members of heritage organisations, cultural heritage professionals working in heritage sites and museums, urban planners, development practitioners, researchers, NGOs active in the field of cultural heritage conservation and management, etc., as well as professionals from the area of disaster risk management. The training course will include classroom lectures, field based learning through site visits and practical demonstrations at the Cultural Heritage Sites and Museum in Kyoto and Kobe, along with workshops, team projects, discussions and individual/group presentations. The deadline for submitting applications is Thursday, 5 April 2018. For additional information about the course and the application procedure, please visit http://www.r-dmuch.jp/en/project/itc_2018.html