Portugal marked the 2025 International Day for Monuments and Sites with a debate on risk prevention and the development of response capacities — including in situations of armed conflict.
On Tuesday, 6 May, the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra hosted the International Conference on Resilient Heritage in the Face of Disasters and Conflicts, jointly organised by the Portuguese Cultural Heritage Authority (Património Cultural, IP) and ICOMOS Portugal.
Echoing the theme of this year’s International Day for Monuments and Sites (IDMS), celebrated on 18 April, the event focused on risk prevention and the development of effective response capacities, including in the context of armed conflict.
One of the highlights was the presentation by Lt. Col. Dominique Jager, an active member of the PROCULTHER-NET community from the Department of Inspection, Research and Security Innovation at the French Ministry of Culture. He shared the strategy devised in 2020 following the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire in Paris. This national Plan aims to improve safety across 89 state-owned cathedrals and churches and includes targeted measures across eight key areas.
Pedro Cantor, a civil engineer from Universidad de los Andes, Colombia and a consultant at UNESCO, followed with his presentation, Heritage Preservation in Armed Conflict Zones: The Ukrainian Example. His talk highlighted UNESCO’s significant efforts to mitigate the impact of war in Ukraine and protect the country’s damaged cultural heritage.
The last talk, by Ana Paula Amendoeira, Regional Director of Culture for Alentejo, introduced the newly established Blue Shield Portugal that will operate as a non-profit association formed by both governmental and non-governmental entities such as libraries, archives, museums, and monuments, as well as built heritage. During her speech, Ms Amendoeira underscored the key role that the Ministry of Defence and Civil Protection can play in the reinforcement of this organisation: “All these entities are essential to address cultural heritage in a systemic and comprehensive manner, allowing us to characterize and diagnose risks […]”
The conference concluded with a round-table featuring the National Director of Protection and Risk Management from the Portuguese National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, alongside experts from Património Cultural, ICOMOS Portugal, and Museus e Monumentos de Portugal — the public business entity responsible for the national collections and five UNESCO-listed national monuments.
Author: Sandra Vaz Costa, Senior Adviser, Património Cultural, Instituto Público / Cultural Heritage, Public Institute (photo © PC, IP. Arlindo Homem)
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