APPLY BY THE LATEST: 28 MARCH 2026

READY Track 2 - Call for Applications – Safeguarding Heritage Cities Sites Buildings and Living Traditions & Practices

Are disasters, climate extremes, or conflict increasingly threatening the heritage places and associated living traditions under your responsibility?

Do you work as a site manager, architect, engineer, urban planner, civil protection or disaster risk management professional, or with communities safeguarding living traditions linked to heritage cities, sites and buildings?

Are you looking for practical tools, cross-sector coordination, and hands-on training to reduce risks before the next emergency strikes?

Join READY Track 2 – Safeguarding Heritage Cities, Sites, Buildings, Living Traditions and Practices in the face of Disasters, Extreme Weather Events and Complex Emergencies – a hybrid, customized capacity development initiative aimed at managing risks from extreme weather, disasters, and armed conflict to immovable heritage and associated living traditions. 

Call for Applications Now Open

Applications are now open for READY Track 2, a fully funded international training programme on safeguarding immovable, archaeological and intangible cultural heritage in the face of disasters, climate risks and complex emergencies.

READY Track 2 is delivered by ICCROM’s First Aid and Resilience for Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis (FAR) Programme, in partnership with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), and funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe Programme. The training will be hosted by the National Institute of Heritage, Romania (TBC) and implemented in collaboration with technical partners across Europe. 

The training will be designed in cooperation with the following technical partners: 

In alignment with the principles of ICCROM and our funding partner, the READY project is committed to inclusivity and celebrating Europe’s diversity. We are actively continuing to enlist partners to ensure a truly representative and collaborative European initiative. 

Why this course? 

Disasters, climate extremes, and conflict disrupt entire heritage systems. Across Europe, climate risks and complex emergencies are intensifying and overlapping faster than existing systems can respond. Extreme weather, sea-level rise, and armed conflict expose heritage cities, sites, and buildings to multi-hazard risks while disrupting living traditions and place-based knowledge. These impacts affect not only physical heritage, but also the relationships, practices, and collective memory that give meaning to place. When risks occur simultaneously or in sequence, their effects are amplified, increasing vulnerability for both heritage and associated communities.

READY – Safeguarding Cultural Heritage from Disasters, Extreme Weather Events, and Complex Emergencies responds to this challenge by strengthening capacities to reduce risks to all forms of heritage. Building on the success of READY Track 1, its Track 2 focuses on immovable heritage and associated living traditions, equipping professionals with practical, integrated approaches to address risk of disasters, climate change and conflict. 

About the Course  

READY Track 2: Safeguarding Heritage Cities, Sites, Buildings, Living Traditions and Practices in the Face of Disasters, Extreme Weather Events, and Complex Emergencies is conceived as a hybrid course. This interdisciplinary training adopts a systems-based approach to managing risks to immovable heritage – including heritage cities, sites, buildings, and archaeological remains – together with the living traditions, practices, and knowledge systems deeply connected to these places.

In alignment with the New European Bauhaus movement, which promotes sustainable, inclusive, and enriching living environments, the course approaches heritage as part of a wider socio-cultural and ecological system, rather than isolated assets. It equips participants to assess and address risks related to disaster, extreme weather, and conflict affecting both immovable and living heritage, while integrating climate adaptation and nature-based strategies to support greener and more resilient cultural environments. Drawing on traditional knowledge and community-based practices, the training ensures that anticipatory action, emergency preparedness, cultural first aid, and post-event recovery are participatory, culturally grounded, and socially just.

Building on ICCROM–FAR’s field-tested methodology for First Aid to Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis, READY Track 2 strengthens participants’ capacities to assess and mitigate extreme risks, enhance emergency preparedness, and respond effectively to complex, large-scale emergencies.

Recognizing that disasters rarely occur in isolation, the course emphasizes cross-sector coordination among disaster risk management, climate science, civil protection, fire and rescue services, armed forces, and heritage institutions. Through multi-actor tabletop exercises and on-site emergency simulations, participants develop the ability to operate under real-time crisis conditions, apply community-centred approaches, and strengthen the resilience of heritage and associated communities. 

Expected Learning Outcomes  

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:  

  • Identify and analyze the uses, values and meanings associated with heritage cities, settlements, buildings, living traditions, and social practices.
  • Understand how these uses, values, and meanings are shaped by the wider urban context and settlement patterns, influenced by geography, climate, and governance structures.
  • Assess how destruction caused by disasters and conflict disrupt cities and settlements, leading to shifts in uses, values and meanings of heritage places and associated living traditions.
  • Identify and evaluate risks related to extreme weather, disasters, and conflicts affecting immovable heritage and associated living traditions and practices, taking into account key risk drivers in consultation with local governments, disaster risk management, and climate change adaptation authorities.  
  • Document community-held place-based knowledge and existing adaptive capacities to develop inclusive multi-hazard risk mitigation and emergency preparedness strategies for safeguarding immovable heritage and associated living traditions and practices.
  • Analyze the cultural, social, and political context of emergencies to assess needs related to affected immovable and living heritage across the different phases of emergency management.  
  • Plan and carry out on-site damage and risk assessments for immovable heritage and associated living traditions in complex emergency situations, while observing basic principles of personal safety and security in hazardous situation.  
  • Work with various humanitarian actors, civil protection agencies, and military to identify priorities and provide ethical first aid to immovable and intangible heritage in a complex emergency.  
  • Document, salvage and store fragments of damaged heritage structures.
  • Undertake emergency documentation to design and implement cost-effective solutions for emergency stabilization of damaged heritage structures and buildings observing established conservation principles of minimal intervention and do no harm.  
  • Provide timely relief to cultural bearers and work in collaboration with humanitarian actors to safeguard at-risk living heritage.  
  • Be familiar with basic principles of effective teamwork, the value of multi-disciplinary team leadership, and be equipped with essential coordination and communication skills.  
  • Understand how to plan the transition from first aid to early recovery to build disaster resilience and peace through heritage.  
  • Transfer relevant knowledge and skills to train local teams of cultural first aiders.  
  • Identify institutions and coordination mechanisms needed to strengthen disaster risk management for cultural heritage at the local level.  
  • Promote better integration of the concerns for cultural heritage protection within national, regional, and local disaster risk management and climate adaptation plans.  

Key Course Dates 

The course will comprise 4 key phases:  

  • Phase 1: Online Orientation and Introduction to Key Concepts

Dates: 16-20 hours per week over 4 weeks, with half-day sessions held Monday to Thursday between the months of May and early June 2026. 

  • Phase 2: Two-Week In-Person Training on Immovable and Intangible Cultural Heritage 

Dates: The training will take place over two weeks, with one rest day between each week. Participants should plan for a minimum stay of 12–15 days in Bucharest, Romania (location TBC), and are advised to obtain approval from their employers accordingly. Exact dates will be confirmed upon selection.  

Location: Bucharest, Romania (TBC) 

  • Phase 3: Follow-up Field Projects Implemented by Participants 

Dates: August 2026 – February 2027

Note: Upon completion of Phase 2: In-Person Two-Week Workshop, participants are required to propose joint or individual projects to be carried out in their respective home countries aimed at enhancing regional, national and local capacities for managing the risk of conflicts, disasters and extreme weather events for heritage sites and living traditions, practices, as well as knowledge systems. The resources for implementing field projects will be supported by participants’ institutions. 

  • Phase 4: International Online Meeting for Dissemination of Field Project Outcomes   

Dates: To be decided upon completion of the follow-up field projects.  

Course Fee 

This course is fully funded, with no participation fee. All expenses related to travel and accommodation for the in-person training component will be covered by ICCROM. Your only requirement is a strong commitment to learning and applying your skills. 

Who can apply 

We invite applications from diverse professionals who are interested in this unique and extensive training and those who wish to make a difference by protecting at-risk heritage and serving their respective communities. Participants must be from countries participating in the Creative Europe programme. (Please refer to the list of eligible European and non-European countries participating in the Creative Europe programme)

The course is open to, but not limited to:

  • conservation architects and engineers
  • heritage site managers
  • archaeologists  
  • urban planners
  • community leaders and cultural bearers
  • professionals from civil protection, disaster risk management, climate science, humanitarian response and fire risk management
  • military and emergency responders involved in heritage protection 

Selection Criteria 

Priority will be given to applicants who:

  • Commit to full participation in all phases of the training, including online learning, in-person training, and the six-month field project.
  • Have formal support from their institution and/or relevant local authorities to implement post-training field activities.
  • Demonstrate prior experience in protecting immovable or living heritage in the context of disasters, extreme weather events, or conflict-related impacts.
  • For applications focused on immovable heritage, identify a heritage city, historic building, archaeological site, cultural landscape, or historic urban area, along with an associated intangible heritage element, and hold the required permissions for data collection and risk assessment.
  • For applications focused on intangible heritage, identify a specific living tradition, craft, ritual, social practice, performing art, seasonal events, or knowledge system, along with an associated place and/or building, and hold the required permissions for documentation and risk assessment. 

How to apply? 

To apply, please complete all mandatory fields in the online application form by 28 March 2026. 
Preliminary selection will be finalized by 30 April 2026. If selected, you will be invited for an online interview during the first week of May 2026. 

Language

The course will be conducted in English. However, the multilingual team of resource persons will assist participants in understanding core concepts and key terms where necessary. Additionally, a multilingual glossary and bibliography will be provided to further support and enhance the learning experience.