RISK ASSESSMENT AND SUSTAINABLE PROTECTION
OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

Disasters and catastrophes pose risks not only to the conservation of cultural heritage assets with its cultural, historic and artistic values, but also to the safety of visitors, staff and local communities. Additionally, they cause undoubtedly negative consequences for the local economies. 

Activities

The ProteCHt2save project contributed to an improvement of capacities of the public and private sectors to mitigate the impacts of climate change and natural hazards on cultural heritage sites, structures and artefacts. The project focused primarily on the development of feasible and tailored solutions for building resilience of cultural heritage to floods and events of heavy rain. It helped regional and local authorities to prepare measures and evacuation plans in case of emergencies. 

Summary of project achievements

ProteCHt2save outputs and results aimed at improving protection, management and sustainable use of the cultural heritage, as well as its valorization in a changing environment.

• A Web GIS tool for risk mapping has been first of all developed in support of policy and decision makers for the development of measures and strategies of preparedness with short and long term perspective aiming at the protection of Cultural Heritage in Central Europe exposed to extreme events linked to climate change (particularly heavy rains, flood and fire due to drought periods)
• A rate of vulnerability has been determined for each of the pilot site in the target regions and integrated in the Web GIS tool for the risk assessment.
• A decision support tool for the analysis of the criticalities determining the vulnerability of cultural heritage has been produced.
• A manual in support of policy and decision makers of good and bad practices for the management of cultural heritage at risk. 
• Manual for cultural heritage managers
• VideoGame for Cultural Heritage Rescue Team 

LESSONS LEARNED FROM PILOT ACTIONS AND INVESTMENTS

The transnational cooperation has been fundamental for the identification of existing barriers and gaps present at territorial level in the regions involved and coordinated actions to be undertaken for their overcoming. 

It has been central for the testing within the pilot actions aiming at the development of local emergency plans for improving capacities in risk management, the definition of the transnational strategies for cultural heritage in emergency situations and the setting up of the cultural heritage rescue team.

Particularly the Municipalities involved in the Project have been committed to integrate the transnational strategies, developed and tested at the pilot sites and specifically dedicated to the protection of cultural heritage, in their local plan of risk management. This has been ensured trough the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding among the Municipalities involved in the Project. 

As final result of the project, 7 Institutions adopted the set-up strategies for the protection of cultural heritage integrating the existing plans programmes towards the prevention against floods, heavy rain and drought periods.  In addition, 7 Institutions from the target Regions were supported in the development of innovative management models based on the use and application of the tools developed in the Project.

The target groups (such as policy and decision makers responsible for disaster mitigation and safeguarding of cultural heritage assets, public authorities, scientific community, citizens and local communities) benefited of: i) an awareness increasing of the still existing gaps in the protection of cultural heritage, ii) tools for its management in emergency situations and iii) preparedness measures and evacuation plans specifically dedicated to its safeguarding when exposed to extreme climate conditions.