I had the privilege of designing and delivering a session which took place on the 11th of November 2019 in Rome, Italy for ICCROM, The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property – an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the perseveration for cultural heritage worldwide through training, information, research, cooperation and advocacy programmes.
The session was part of their 4 week training program “First Aid to Cultural Heritage in Time of Crisis”. The training is based on a field-tested three-step framework for cultural heritage first aid, which can be adapted to any emergency context, whether conflict or disaster.
The title of my 90 minute session was “Transformation of values and significance associated with cultural heritage in crises”. Participants were invited to explore and understand the importance of community values for cultural first aiders when assessing the situation during heritage recovery. I used a highly creative and collaborative experiential learning approach to help them tackled questions such as:
- How will your community care/value/enjoy cultural heritage?
- How will it benefit future generations?
- What approaches could your community take to recover damaged cultural heritage after a crisis?
Summary of Session
Values we attribute to cultural heritage are not fixed. They are constantly changing, sometimes distorted and in some cases ignored. To consider all the values we must recognise the importance of including all stakeholders in the process of value assessment. The understanding of community values is essential for cultural first aiders when assessing the situation during heritage recovery. This interactive session puts participants in the shoes of a community to explore the importance of value assessment.
Training goals
- Understand the role cultural first aid plays in recovering heritage
- Explore and understand value assessment before disaster and during post-crisis recovery
- Learn typical approaches communities take to heritage recovery
21 international professionals working in the fields of humanitarian assistance, civil protection, military and disaster risk management, and those working in the field of cultural heritage attended the session.
