The 2024 edition of the International Day for Monuments and Sites on 18 April 2024 will focus on “Disaster and Conflict through the Lens of the Venice Charter” and simultaneously start the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Venice Charter, adopted on 31 May 1964. ICOMOS members and heritage professionals will reappraise the Venice Charter and its impact on conservation practice and engage debate on its suitability for addressing the challenges of a climate emergency, conflicts and natural disasters.
To support of this reflection, the Documentation Centre has selected five previous ICOMOS publications available in full text on the ICOMOS Open Archive addressing aspects of the damage caused to heritage by various kinds of disasters (notably earthquakes, floods and armed conflits) and subsequents ways to recovery.
Earthquake disaster prevention of cultural heritages: experience and development in Japan. Edited by Toshikazu Hanazato, Yuga Kariya, Yusuke Nishikawa, Satoshi Nishioka, Kazuyuki Yano and Hajime Yokouchi. Tokyo: ICOMOS Japan, 2023. 201 p. [English]
This report, the last of a series about earthquake damage and recovery of cultural property produced by ICOMOS Japan, assesses the development of seismic studies and disaster management measures over the last decades, focussing especially on experience drawn from from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and the Kumamoto Earthquakes in 2016. Pre-disaster measures include seismic resistance assessment guidelines and the creation of a heritage manager system, intended to expand the number of people involved with historic buildings. Post-disaster measures included the establishment of the Cultural Property Doctor Dispatch Program, to help assess damage conditions and provide technical support for recovery, and of various reconstruction and rehabilitation subsidy systems. The report also presents the rapid development of earthquake-resistant technology for cultural property buildings.
More information and full text in the Open Archive
Advancing risk management for the shared future: 2020 ICOMOS 6 ISCs joint meeting proceedings. Edited by Yen Ya-Nin and Li Chao-Shiang. Taichung: Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, 2020. 332 p. ISBN 978-986-5321-64-2. [English]
More information and full text in the Open Archive
Nach der Stunde Null – aus Nachkriegserfahrungen für Syrien lernen? Denkmalpflege, Archäologie und Städtebau als internationale Aufgabe = After the zero hour – learning from post-war experience for Syria? Heritage conservation, archaeology and urban planning as international responsibility. Berlin: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, 2019. 216 p. DOI 10.34780/0.v1i0.1000. [German & English]
This volume discusses the relevance of the European experience of reconstruction after the Second World War to urban planning and cultural heritage conservation in Syria. What form should reconstruction take? New building or reconstruction, old city layout or new order, restoration vs. reconstitution or reconstruction? How to deal with archaeological heritage? How can international standards and conventions be enforced and what should the international community do to bring up to war-ravaged cities the planning, craftsmanship and scientific expertise required for a qualified reconstruction? What does the public expect from archaeologists, monument conservators and town planners? Which kinds of international cooperation have proven successful and how would they be developed to fit changing perspectives? This international, interdisciplinary dialogue brings up for the first time numerous facets and perspectives on post-conflict recovery of cultural heritage.
More information and full text on the Open Archive
Post-trauma reconstruction: proceedings of the 1-day colloquium at ICOMOS headquarters, 4 March 2016, volumes 1 and 2. Charenton-le-Pont: ICOMOS, 2016. 2 vol., 34 & 41 p. ISBN 978-2-918086-09-3 [vol. 1, English], 978-2-918086-03-1 [vol. 1, French], 978-2-918086-18-5 [vol. 2, English and French]
These proceedings of a colloquium held at the ICOMOS headquarters on 4 March 2016 deal with cultural heritage reconstruction after trauma, meaning both the destruction related to armed conflicts and caused by natural disasters. Several discussion groups were organized to identify means of transmitting cultural heritage despite destruction context, of fostering engagement and understanding associated ethical issues. The first volume, produced in full both in French and English, includes a summary of the speakers' presentations, a global report of group discussions and an overall conclusion as to the next steps. The second volume contains the long version of presentations in the original French or English and the detailed discussions of each group.
More information and full text on the Open Archive
Tangible risks, intangible opportunities: long-term risk preparedness and responses for threats to cultural heritage. Proceedings of the ICOMOS Scientific Symposium, 31 October 2012, Beijing, China. Edited by Amel Chabbi, Pamela Jerome, Rohit Jigyasu, Stephen J. Kelley and James K. Reap. Charenton-le-Pont: ICOMOS, 2014. 238 p. ISBN 978-2-918086-14-7 [English]
Cultural heritage is exposed to numerous disasters resulting from natural hazards, such as earthquakes, floods, and cyclones, and increasingly from human-induced hazards, like arson, armed conflict and civil unrest. The great East Japan Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami (2011), Thailand Floods (2011), Haiti, Chile and Christchurch earthquakes (2010), and civil unrests in Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Syria have caused serious damage to tangible and intangible attributes of cultural heritage sites ranging from historic buildings, museums, historic settlements, as well as cultural landscapes. Undoubtedly, the frequency and intensity of some disasters has increased recently due to the impact of Global Climate Change, as well as social, economic and political changes. Considering these challenges, the ICOMOS Advisory Committee symposium in Beijing on “Reducing Risks to Cultural Heritage from Natural and Human-Caused Disasters” aimed to assess these risks and formulate policies, strategies and techniques for reducing risks to disasters, responding to emergencies and recovering from disasters. Position papers and case studies were solicited on five sub-themes: 1. Techniques and strategies for mitigating risks to cultural heritage from natural and human-caused disasters 2. Methodology and tools for undertaking risk-assessment of cultural heritage 3. Protecting cultural heritage in times of conflict and other emergencies 4. Planning for post-disaster recovery of cultural heritage 5. Awareness-raising and capacity building for managing disaster risks to cultural heritage. This volume contains the resulting proceedings.
More information and full text on the Open Archive
