Spotlight Cultural Property Protection - 70 years Hague Convention

So called natural catastrophes, which are ever more present in Europe these days and often enhanced by climate change, can devastatingly affect cultural heritage. In humanitarian and disaster response people’s lives come first, but response for cultural heritage has a sometimes-brief window as well. Two distinguished experts will discuss the role of cultural heritage in disaster response with

Professor Valerie Higgins, PhD,

Program Director for Sustainable Cultural Heritage at the American University of Rome. Their case studies are both based on devastating earthquakes – 2023 in Türkiye and 2016 in Italy.

Chief Warrant Officer Eugenio Borgese

from the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage will talk about the command, established in 1969 and the role it had following the 2016 earthquakes in Italy. In addition to that he will present the initiative “Blue Helmets for Culture”, in which he serves as one of the first members.

Professor Zeynep Gül Ünal, PhD

is the director of the Yildiz Technical University Research Center for Preservation of Historical Heritage. She also is a member of the Turkish disaster relief unit and as such served in the aftermath of the 2023 Türkiye earthquake. She will speak about first measures undertaken in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake regarding cultural heritage and its protection.

To join the online lecture, please register via this link. After registering, you will receive an email with the Zoom link to the online event.

The lecture language is English.
No registration fee.

The Spotlight Cultural Property Protection lecture series 2024 is organized in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.