The European Security and Defence College (ESDC) is a network of international institutes and institutions for education and training in the field of the Common Security and Defence Policy with the aim of providing strategic training for civilian and military personnel at EU level.

Since 2022, we have been part of this network with the "Cultural Property Protection Course", offering our participants a special opportunity to raise awareness of the need to protect our cultural heritage in cooperation with international experts, the military, police, customs and international organisations.

The CHePiCC online MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is an innovative (independent in time and place) learning program developed as part of the CHePiCC online research project. This online course brings together leading experts from different disciplines to discuss the risks and challenges that cultural heritage faces due to climate change and related natural disasters, and to present measures that can be taken to protect our cultural heritage. Recent interdisciplinary research will be presented to promote understanding of the importance, shared values and identity of cultural heritage. Experts from fields such as cultural property protection, cultural landscapes, climatology and climate change, structural engineering, material handling, preparedness measures, heritage sciences, conservation and restoration will share their knowledge in short video lessons.

As part of our projects, we organise international and interdisciplinary module weeks at the Center for Cultural Property Protection: our Summer and Winter Schools.  

These usually one-week programmes deal with current issues in the broad field of cultural property protection and usually have a very high proportion of practical exercises in cooperation with various cultural institutions. They offer participants the opportunity to plan for emergencies, develop specific preparedness and risk management strategies for cultural property, learn the proper handling of materials, or work with emergency response organisations to protect cultural property. 

State-of-the-art research and the use of digital tools are enriched by the diverse expertise of participants from a wide range of professional backgrounds. This makes our summer and winter schools an ideal starting point for a deeper engagement with cultural heritage and its protection. 

We specialise in a professional approach to the protection of cultural property, focusing on the concrete, practical implementation of strategies and measures. Museums, collections, archaeological and cultural sites benefit from proven emergency and evacuation plans - before disaster strikes. Peacetime preparedness enables the protection of irreplaceable cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict or natural disasters.

At the Center for Cultural Property Protection, we organise cultural property protection exercises, from small-scale staff exercises to authentic large-scale disaster simulations, to teach practical skills. The exercises are led by experienced experts and are designed to take management and protection strategies from theory to practice. The Center acts as an interface between cultural sector professionals, civilians, (inter)national cultural property protection organisations and military task forces and first responders.

The aim of these exercises is to optimise processes, strengthen cooperation between different actors, identify and eliminate weaknesses in the protection of cultural property: participants prepare basic material for possible operations, assess hazard scenarios, deal with the legal aspects of an evacuation, apply the Tactical Command and Control Process as a standardised tool, and practice the correct inventory of evacuated objects and handling of materials.

Our cultural heritage protection exercises enable us to work on an equal footing with (international) emergency organisations and decision-makers at various levels.