Learning by doing for heritage protection: bottom-up exercises in Southern Dalmatia as a path to procedural innovation

Building on the achievements of the CPforHeritage project and on the lessons learnt from the activities implemented in collaboration with the PROCULTHER initiative, Croatia was able to reinforce the national capacities for protecting cultural heritage at risk. This led, among other, to the realisation of two civil protection exercises - “Ston Heritage 2025” and “Sacred Heritage 2025” - in southern Croatia. These exercises served as real-world laboratories for the improvement of disaster preparedness in cultural heritage protection.

Held in neighbouring municipalities exposed to wildfire and earthquake risks, the exercises brought together emergency responders and heritage professionals to explore practical challenges, test assumptions, and build cross-sectoral cooperation where formal protocols are still incomplete or absent. In PROCULTHER-NET 2 Project. Technical Bulletin N. 6, November 2025, pp 52 – 59. KEYWORDS: earthquakes, field exercises, preparedness, cultural heritage.

See also the article “The power of knowledge: strengthening national capacities for cultural heritage disaster risk management” In PROCULTHER-NET 2 Project. Technical Bulletin N. 6, November 2025, pp 44 – 51.