New online course equips World Heritage professionals to manage disaster risks
From 5 to 16 May 2025, the ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership (WHL) Programme delivered the first edition of the online course on Integrating Disaster Risk Management (DRM) into World Heritage Management: using DRM to improve management practice for both culture and nature.
The course brought together 27 heritage professionals from 19 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas for a series of six interactive sessions aimed at building knowledge and skills to strengthen the resilience of World Heritage (WH) properties through DRM.
Growing risks to cultural and natural heritage
In the current global context, heritage places are increasingly vulnerable to disasters resulting from natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, and wildfires, in addition to threats from human actions like conflict, tourism pressure, and urban expansion. These risks are compounded by the effects of environmental changes.
Against this backdrop, integrating good place-based DRM into heritage management systems is of utmost importance for the protection of heritage today and in the future.
Ensuring effective and practical disaster risk management globally
The course stressed that DRM is an integral component in the effective management of WH properties and other heritage places. Moreover, achieving quality DRM for protection of heritage depends on how well it is tailored to heritage values and attributes, and to the specific contexts of each heritage place.
Participants, who included professionals from site management offices, cultural and natural heritage departments, DRM agencies, international organizations, and research institutions, gained critical insights from the course’s emphasis on applying content to exercises using four shared case studies:
- Herculaneum Archaeological Park, Italy
- Hoi An Ancient Town, Vietnam
- Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, Malta
- Wooden Hypostyle Mosques of Medieval Anatolia, Türkiye
These case studies allowed participants to reflect on various risks and factors, design risk scenarios and management actions while sharing their own site experiences in a bid to collaboratively find practical solutions.
The course was supported by an online component delivered through the ICCROM Learning Platform, providing foundational resources on World Heritage management.
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond
This pilot edition of the course marked a milestone for WHL as its first fully online DRM course. Based on participant feedback, the course will be refined for future editions (starting 2026) – working with more practitioners to integrate DRM as a key component of the management of heritage.