Heritage can be better protected from disasters while contributing to the resilience of societies. This module will address gaps in disaster risk management (DRM) practices, explore how to integrate disaster risk management with other management frameworks and promote inter-sectorial, inter-organizational collaboration to advance heritage concerns in the wider agenda for disaster risk reduction. Another priority will focus on gathering knowledge, developing tools and providing guidance for climate change mitigation and adaptation in World Heritage sites.
Synergies with other existing programmes in UNESCO, IUCN, ICCROM, ICOMOS and UNISDR (UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) will be coordinated. The programme will tightly focus around revising the existing resource manual on disaster risks, by coherently linking disaster risk management and climate change responses, and by integrating risk management to daily heritage management.
Module Activities
- Integrate disaster risk management into overall heritage management
World Heritage sites need to adopt disaster risk management as a crucial and indivisible component of heritage policies and management strategies for heritage sites including their larger contexts. It is also important to have in place an effective Disaster Risk Management plan, which encompass effective strategies for mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
- Interlink between disaster risk management and climate change adaptation
The integrated manual should become a standard setting document for site based DRM and Resilience. Case studies will be developed to collect lessons learned from properties that have been subject to disasters, and all phases (planning before, emergency work during, and recovery after) will be included.
- Capacity Building activities
The activities, including ongoing monitoring, are developed and implemented to help professionals from selected sites to develop proper DRM plans, based on ICCROM courses.The programme will also be able to respond and provide short and targeted capacity building to State Parties in the aftermath of emergency situations.
- Guidance on climate adaptation
By 2020, Climate Change Adaptation will be established as a key component part of the new approach to integrated conservation, management and presentation of nature and culture within World Heritage sites. The new resource manual will include guidance on climate adaptation, and case studies of best practices are gathered and disseminated.