In the aftermath of devastating floods in Central Europe, ICCROM has joined hands with its long-standing partner, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA), Belgium, to organise a series of consultations for assessing and securing damaged movable and immovable heritage. Through this collaborative initiative, KIK-IRPA and ICCROM aim to reduce risks and promote early recovery, by fostering inter-agency coordination and developing a common methodology for recording damage and risks at the affected heritage places.
Ms. Hilde De Clercq, the Director-General of KIK-IRPA and a council member of ICCROM, is spearheading the cultural rescue efforts in Belgium. In support, ICCROM’s flagship programme, First Aid and Resilience for Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis (FAR), organised a one-day impromptu workshop involving key members of the crisis response committee formed in the wake of the floods.
Held on 30 July 2021, the online workshop brought together 17 heritage professionals drawn from various institutions and backgrounds, including built heritage, movable heritage, humanitarian, archives, art history, as well as community representatives from Belgium, for a combination of presentations and interactive plenary discussion activities. To cater to the mainly French-speaking audience, two professional language interpreters, Ms. Carole Salas and Ms. Morgane Alexandre, voluntarily provided simultaneous interpretation.
The discussion was guided by targeted presentations from Ms. Aparna Tandon, Senior Programme Leader, FAR programme, Ms. Eugenie Crete, civil engineer, and Head of Research at CRAterre, France, as well as Ms. Françoise Collanges and Ms. Wivine Roland-Gosselin, Scientific Advisors for Preventive Conservation at KIK-IRPA. The workshop resulted in the development of a common consensus on rapid post-flood damage and risk assessment forms, which were subsequently distributed to relevant stakeholders through the crisis committee.
The forms are now available online in French, Dutch and English. To access them, please click on the links in the side bar.
About KIK-IRPA
The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage is part of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office and is dedicated to the study and conservation of Belgium’s artistic and cultural assets. Its mandate includes heritage science research, valorisation, conservation, and restoration, as well as inventory and heritage documentation.
Other participating institutions
IRPA (Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique), BBB (Comité belge du Bouclier Bleu), FWB (Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles), MSW (Musées et Société en Wallonie), AWaP (Agence wallonne du Patrimoine), CIPAR (Centre Interdiocésain du Patrimoine et des Arts Religieux), CRMSF (Commission royale des Monuments, Sites et Fouilles de la Région wallonne), DHJB (Association royale des Demeures Historiques & Jardins de Belgique), AAFB (Association des archivistes francophones de Belgique), FARO (Institution flamande du patrimoine culturel), Monumentenwacht, ICOM B/FL (conseil international des Musées Belgique/Flandres), ICOM B/WB (conseil international des Musées Belgique/Wallonie-Bruxelles), ICOMOS Belgique (Conseil international des monuments et des sites, Belgique), Archives de l’État, Belgique