Protecting Cultural Heritage at Risk: the PROCULTHER-NET Community Moves Towards the Definition of Shared Operational Tools at European Level

The workshop “Advancing a European Damage and Impact Assessment Tool for Cultural Heritage at Risk” took place in Bursa, Türkiye, within the framework of the project PROCULTHER-NET 2 - Protecting Cultural Heritage from the Consequences of Disasters - Network 2. The initiative, aimed at strengthening capacities for the protection of cultural heritage at risk, is coordinated by the Italian Civil Protection Department and co-funded by DG ECHO under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

Organized in cooperation with the project partner AFAD, the Turkish authority responsible for disaster and emergency management, as well as with the local authorities, the workshop gathered around eighty high-level experts from the cultural heritage and civil protection sectors, representing twenty countries participating in the Mechanism. The objective was to test the damage assessment forms for tangible and intangible cultural heritage included in the Methodology developed during the previous phases of the initiative, which is currently being updated based on the training activities and exchanges carried out at European and international level since its publication.

After an introduction to the project’s activities and objectives, the event focused on the damage assessment forms, combining classroom discussions with field exercises. The remarkable Muradiye Tomb Complex, a UNESCO site, and the Romangal Silk Factory, a significant example of local industrial heritage, provided the setting for the scenarios designed to allow participants to test the performance of these tools in realistic conditions. The experts comprised of eleven interdisciplinary and multinational teams, completed the proposed forms to assess structural damage of the sites and to document the condition of the movable and intangible heritage at risk, identifying priorities and initial protection measures.

The final debriefing enabled a structured discussion among the teams and provided elements that will contribute to updating the assessment forms, with possible implications also at national level: several countries have expressed their intention to use the outcomes of this experience to develop or adapt their own damage assessment tools.

These results were achieved thanks to the coordinated contribution of the Department’s personnel, particularly the group of cultural heritage experts, as well as the support of the Italian National Fire and Rescue Service. Together with technicians from the Ministry of Culture, the National Central Library of Florence, and the ABAP Superintendency of Ancona, Pesaro and Urbino, they provided specialized expertise for the development of these tools, their operational testing and further refinement. A pool of experts from France, Germany, Spain and Türkiye also contributed, supporting the preliminary phases and the operational activities during the workshop.

The Bursa event once again confirmed the importance among Mechanism countries of working together on a common European approach for the protection of cultural heritage at risk.

In this perspective, starting on 1 April 2026, the Department will launch a new phase of the project, entitled Protecting Cultural Heritage from the Consequences of Disasters for All – PROCULTHER-4ALL, which will consolidate and expand the results achieved so far, promoting a holistic approach based on cooperation among public institutions, private stakeholders, local communities and civil society.

Photo source: AFAD