Fostering inter-agency cooperation in disaster risk management for cultural heritage in Croatia through the CPforHERITAGE project

Abstract

The awareness of hazards to cultural heritage was significantly raised by the Zagreb and Petrinja earthquakes in 2020. The circumstance of this disaster was unprecedented since damage assessment, response and recovery of cultural heritage had to be organized within another broader and worldwide crisis of Covid 19 pandemic. The Croatian national civil protection and national cultural heritage protection services joined forces in an ad hoc manner to provide first aid to heritage in this crisis, and to facilitate recovery which is still in progress four years after these devastating events. The lessons learned have been recognized by both sectors to be vital in encouraging better practices in their own respective fields. More importantly, they have been recognized as crucial for improving collaboration of the sectors in all cycles of disaster risk reduction for cultural heritage. Thus, in 2023 a project was proposed by the Directorate for Civil Protection, developed in collaboration with the Directorate for Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Media, and financed by the Union Civil Protection Mechanism with the aim to form five regional interdisciplinary and inter-agency response teams trained to manage cultural heritage in times of crisis. This paper presents project results, together with strategies and tools developed to improve disaster risk management for cultural heritage in Croatia.

It had been recognized that both sectors had significant experience, skills and other resources necessary to respond to a catastrophic event, developed in previous disasters including the Homeland War. However, the earthquakes in 2020 revealed a gap in terms of integration of both sectors. Therefore, the CPforHERITAGE project was designed with a focus to develop strategy to reduce the detected gap and to foster an integrative disaster risk management for cultural heritage system. For this purpose, four major activities were designed and conducted within a one-year framework. One, the project work team defined obligations and roles of all stakeholders in the process of managing cultural heritage in times of crisis before and during an emergency, through developing a Standard Operative Procedure for joint action on the ground. Two, mutual and continuous support between systems was established through a set of specific activities, including joint training for both heritage protection professionals and civil protection operational forces. Three, appropriate competences of human resources were developed through study visits abroad in cooperation with the French and Italian civil protection services, in order to become familiar with their existing practices of disaster risk management for cultural heritage. Four, the work team created a basis for coordinated development of technological resources in both sectors. These activities were carried out through cabinet work, regular inter-agency meetings and discussions, as well as joint visits to heritage sites damaged by disasters both in Croatia and abroad. All strategic documents and proposals were first drafted by each sector individually, shared, revised and tested in table-top simulations, and real-time drills. Part of the activities was carried out in collaboration with the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, namely their First Aid and Resilience for Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis Program (ICCROM - FAR). More than thirty professionals across the board were trained together and are now part of a network sharing mutual vision of future development of the DRM for CH system. Finally, a mid-term strategy for future collaboration was developed and approved by officials in both sectors, with the appropriate indicators of efficiency clearly designed. The paper argues that the CPforHERITAGE project has significantly improved national disaster preparedness and inter-agency cooperation in managing disaster risks for cultural heritage.