Heritage and Reslience: Issues and Opportunities for Reducing Disaster Risks

Heritage is usually not taken into account in global statistics concerning disaster risks; nevertheless, historic cities, monuments, archaeological sites, museums and cultural landscapes are increasingly affected by threats both natural and manmade. The progressive loss of these places as a result of floods, mudslides, fire, earthquakes, civil unrest and other hazards has become a major concern. Heritage contributes to social cohesion, sustainable development and psychological wellbeing. Protecting heritage promotes resilience. A considerable wealth of experience exists in protecting heritage from disasters and in harnessing the potential of a well-maintained historic environment to strengthen the resilience of communities. The initiative and commitment of national and local governments, businesses and communities around the world is increasingly apparent. Their efforts need to be further encouraged. UN Agencies, NGO’s and a wide range of universities and technical institutions have been organizing additional support and guidance. Nevertheless, with a few notable exceptions, efforts to protect heritage from disaster risk remain fragmented and efforts to draw on heritage as an instrument for building resilience remain inconsistent. (…) This paper presents the current thinking in the field as well as various examples – from different regions of the world - of how heritage can be better protected from disasters while contributing to the resilience of societies. It aims to bring these important issues to the attention of the larger disaster risk reduction community and to stimulate wider discussion in the context of ongoing consultations around a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction (referred to as Hyogo Framework for Action 2 or HFA2) and a post 2015 development agenda. In advocating for integration of these issues within both disaster risk and heritage conservation policies and practices, this paper promotes strategic partnerships that bring the knowledge and capacities of actors in the fields of cultural heritage and disaster risk together and encourages support to the initiatives of local governments and, most importantly, communities that safeguard our shared cultural heritage for resilience.