The Department of Civil Protection joins with the European Project PROCULTHER the International Conference for the Protection of Cultural Heritage

From 16 to 18 November, the Department of Civil Protection will join the virtual International Conference "Cultural Heritage and Multilateralism: Regional and International Strategies for the Protection of Cultural Heritage". The forum bringing together high-level representatives of international and non-governmental organisations working on the sustainable management of the world's cultural heritage.

The event, organised by the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union in cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO, the EU and the Council of Europe, and held on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property of UNESCO, will be streamed live.

The Italian Civil Protection Department will be represented by Dr. Giovanni De Siervo, Coordinator of the Department's International Relations Service, who will open the session "Risk prevention and management - strategies and synergies" on Monday 16 November with a debate on the protection of cultural heritage and risk management.

The main objectives of the Protecting Cultural Heritage from the Consequences of Disasters - PROCULTHER. The European Project for the protection of cultural heritage in emergency situations, through the development of a common European methodology and shared standard operating procedures, will also be illustrated.
Among the States of the PROCULTHER Consortium, the virtuous example of Italy, France, Spain and Turkey - countries at risk for the high number of cultural heritage present on the territories, some of which have been designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. These countries with their significant know how represent an important resource in the sector of cultural heritage protection in case of emergency.

Coordinated by the Civil Protection Department and co-financed under the Union Mechanism by the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG - ECHO), PROCULTHER is based: on the recent experiences gained by partner countries in the field of cultural heritage protection in case of disaster, and on the results achieved in the previous project Protecting Mediterranean Cultural Heritage During Disasters - PROMEDHE - dedicated to the protection of cultural heritage in case of disaster in the Mediterranean area, co-funded by the European Commission DG - ECHO and led by the Civil Protection Department, as lead partner.

The objective of highlighting the theme of sustainable management of cultural heritage in case of disaster at the top of the European national agendas is part of the November 2020 Virtual International Conference, which recognizes the importance of joint strategies and cooperative action, and aims to explore the connections between cultural heritage protection and multilateralism.

In this international framework, the German Foreign Ministry hosting the event will give the floor to the representatives of the other international partners involved in this field: Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner - DG EAC, Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe and Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations.

To follow the conference live from 12.45 PM on November 16th on https://cultural-heritage-and-multilateralism2020.com/event

 The intervention of the Civil Protection Department on the PROCULTHER project is foreseen from 3.30 PM on.

 For updates on the PROCULTHER project www.proculther.eu

Three-day live streaming on