International Training Course (ITC) on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage 2015

Earthquakes and floods cause immense damage to cultural heritage. North Italy earthquake of 2012 caused widespread damage to the historic city of Ferrara while earthquake in Philippines in 2013 damaged historic Bohol churches. Floods in Balkan region in 2014 affected numerous historic towns, 2011 floods in Thailand severely damaged the World Heritage Site of Ayuthhaya and 2010 floods in Pakistan affected many archaeological sites and vernacular settlements along River Indus.

World is facing increased rate of urbanization than ever before. Number of people living in cities equaled those in villages in 2007 and is rising ever since. Such a fast pace of urbanization accompanied by densification, poorly constructed buildings and overburdened infrastructure is putting tremendous pressure on heritage sites especially those located in urban areas, thereby increasing their vulnerability to earthquakes and floods. Moreover, Climate Change is contributing towards increased intensity and frequency of hydro- meteorological events such as heavy rainfall and cyclones. As a result, many heritage sites located in global hot spots such as coastal areas especially below sea level are exposed to risks of inundation greater than ever before. Also there might be low frequency high intensity incidents of flooding that may trigger landslides along mountain slopes.

While vulnerability of cultural heritage to earthquakes and floods is increasing more than ever before, there are countless examples of traditional knowledge evolved by communities through series of trials and errors that demonstrate that cultural heritage can be an effective source of resilience. Through this accumulated wisdom these communities have developed effective indigenous mechanisms of dealing with earthquakes and floods rather than trying to only resist them through technocratic measures. Considering these issues and challenges, the 10th International Training Course will give special focus on the Protecting cultural heritage from disaster risks due to earthquakes and floods.

Objective

The main objective of the course is to provide an overview of the various aspects of disaster risk management of cultural heritage. In particular, the course provides interdisciplinary training to:

• Undertake an integrated risk assessment by analyzing the vulnerability of cultural heritage to disasters risks;
• Build an integrated system for disaster risk management of cultural heritage, incorporating mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery measures;
• Formulate risk management plans for cultural heritage that correspond to the urban and regional disaster management plans and
• Establish an international scientific support network for risk management of cultural heritage in order to build the institutional capacity needed to formulate comprehensive risk management plans that are based on the characteristics of cultural heritage and nature of hazards in the regional context.