The Forum was a perfect scenario to share PROCULTHER’s main outcomes, to introduce PROCULTHER-NET, invite all concerned actors to join the thematic community within the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network-KN by filling in the questionnaire defined for this purpose, and to advocate for the participation of new interested actors in this initiative that will build up and consolidate the KN.
On 28 and 29 June 2022, Brussels hosted the 7th European Civil Protection Forum: two days of conferences, thematic workshops, laboratories and an exhibition path gathering European Union institutions and international organisations, representatives of national, regional and local civil protection authorities, experts from the scientific community and disaster risk management, as well as bodies specialized in civil protection, relief and emergency willing to bring their contributions to the debate. This first edition in-presence after the COVID outbreak was dedicated to the topic entitled: “Towards faster, greener and smarter emergency management”, and aimed to stimulate networking and brainstorming among participants, encouraging innovative thinking and creating new ideas in the context of disaster risk management through multidisciplinary and multi-risk exchange practices.
Based on such premises, the Forum was a perfect scenario to disseminate PROCULTHER’s key outcomes, to introduce PROCULTHER-NET to cultural heritage protection stakeholders and to advocate for the participation of new interested actors in this initiative; the two projects were invited by DG ECHO as exhibitors in the area set-up at the SQUARE Centre to share those experiences leading to the establishment of a thematic community focused on the protection of cultural heritage within the European Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network- KN .
PROCULTHER experts spread copies of the “Key Elements of a European Methodology to Address the Protection of Cultural Heritage during Emergencies” and exchanged points of view and technical advice with the visitors of the stand: experts from disaster risk management authorities, academics, researchers, and knowledge holders belonging to DG ECHO’s relevant Units and services, including the EC-Joint Research Centre, and from more than 25 countries – mostly UCPM Member and Participating States but also from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Republic of North Macedonia, Kosovo*, Libya, Mauritania, Moldova, Montenegro and United Kingdom – who, in many cases, found themselves dealing with such issues for the first time, that is specific aspects related to the technical and operational capacities for the improvement of cultural heritage protection in emergency.
PROCULTHER-NET, on the other hand, seized the opportunity to promote the questionnaire launched to all concerned stakeholders in order to facilitate the identification of the content and processes on which to focus a cultural heritage protection community, and whose findings will guide the project activities for the months to come. Eager to consolidate the results reached by PROCULTHER, the PROCULTHER-NET Community is now ready to involve new interested actors in the process undertaken to support and complement the efforts made by the European Union in the field of civil protection for the inclusion of cultural heritage protection in all the risk management phases.
These are the first promising steps taken through the participation in the Forum, as it provided a unique opportunity to meet the KN family and strengthen the experts’ sense of ownership, thus contributing to its growth. The PROCULTHER-NET expanded network of experts, also by the involvement of new members coming from the world of research, will foster the debate in this thematic community within the KN called to connect and share their experiences and skills to develop technical and operational knowledge as well as capacities for the achievement of a sustainable resilience of our society.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence
