Alhambra Palace - Granada
Alhambra Palace - Granada

The Second World War claimed more lives than any other war in history and obliterated a great deal of cultural property that defined the communities in which they were erected. This included many historic cities of Europe.

In its aftermath, the world needed a technical institution dedicated to preserving, protecting and restoring what humanity had destroyed. In response, UNESCO created ICCROM and chose Rome as its headquarters. As home to ICCROM and as a beneficiary of its earliest efforts, Europe is a region with which the organization has always had close ties, and which has also had an important role to play in the conservation sector.

Sixty years later, humanity is faced yet again with large-scale and catastrophic developments – mass displacement of people, entrenched conflict, harshening climate. All are challenging cultural heritage preservation. Europe is again in a positon to both benefit from and serve ICCROM’s efforts. This is not only because these demographic, political and climatic forces are playing out within or near its borders, but also because Europe is able – and therefore responsible – to play a more universal role in enacting change.

ICCROM is eager to engage with a Europe that leverages everything from its resources, to experience and diplomatic know-how to model inclusive and engaged societies. Europe can take the lead in truly integrating refugees who come in search of safety, embracing the cultures they bring and incorporating them into Europe’s own. Europe can show how caring for culture is caring for people as heritage congregates and generates cohesion, understanding and even economic opportunity. And when Europe extends this work beyond its borders, it can demonstrate how the returns on cultural diplomacy are more stable, inclusive and just nations – indeed, a better world.

Featured

https://www.iccrom.org/it/news-events/news

Visit from Canadian architecture and conservation students

On 21 February, professor Lyette Fortin and her architecture and conservation students from Carleton University, Canada, visited us at ICCROM headquarters. Professor Fortin spent several months at ICCROM in 1986, participating in one of our foundational courses, the Architectural Conservation Course.

Visit from representatives of the Stati Generali del Patrimonio Italiano

Visit from representatives of the Stati Generali del Patrimonio Italiano

On 16 February 2023, our Director-General Webber Ndoro welcomed representatives of the Stati Generali del Patrimonio Italiano – President Prof. Ivan Drogo Inglese and General Counsel Carlo Magrassi – to ICCROM headquarters. Also present was Dr Iyad Hafez from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy to Italy.

Davos Alliance 2023

Launching the Davos Baukultur Alliance

This past week, ICCROM has been in Davos, Switzerland, to endorse the importance of Baukultur.

US visit 1 Dec 2022

Visit from the US Department of State

On 1 December 2022, we were honoured to receive Matthew D. Steinhelfer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and Nick O’Neill, Deputy Director (Acting) Western Hemisphere and European Affairs, from the US Department of State Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations; and Sam Rothenberg, Alternate Permanent Representative and Political/Economic Officer, from the US Mission to the United...

World in Florence 2022

ICCROM engages youth and the international community in integrating heritage into disaster risk reduction, climate action and peacebuilding

Through a participatory game on disaster risk governance and two formal panels on climate action and peacebuilding, ICCROM’s First Aid and Resilience (FAR) Programme engaged 90 high school kids and a diverse heritage community at “The World in Florence,” an international festival about the diversity of the world’s cultural expressions, organized by the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation in Florence...

PREVENT - Mitigating Fire Risk at Heritage Places, an ICCROM-led international symposium resonates a global concern

PREVENT - Mitigating Fire Risk at Heritage Places, an ICCROM-led international symposium resonates a global concern

On 17 and 18 October 2022, we reunited with PREVENT course alums to catch up on the successes and challenges of managing fire risk at heritage sites across the globe. The two-day international symposium - the first of its kind for the PREVENT initiative - was held in Trogir, Croatia, and online.

Visit from Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus

Visit from Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus

On 20 October 2022, ICCROM Director-General Dr Webber Ndoro welcomed H.E. Yiorgos Christofides, Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to Italy, to ICCROM headquarters.

Nantucket

Upcoming symposium concerns impacts of climate change on cultural heritage

From 6 to 8 December, we will be confronting the negative impacts of climate change on cultural heritage worldwide at a three-day symposium in the United States. The US National Park Service (NPS) and Nantucket Historical Association (NHA), in partnership with ICCROM, are organizing the Climate Change and Cultural Heritage Symposium, which aims to explore the latest climate change research and...

ICCROM partners with US National Park Service and Nantucket Historical Association to host climate change symposium in the United States

The three-day event in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the United States of America, will confront the negative impacts of climate change on cultural heritage around the world.
Endangered Heritage: Emergency Evacuation of Heritage Collections in Swedish

Endangered Heritage translated into its 15th language - Swedish!

ICCROM and the Swedish National Heritage Board have released a Swedish version of the pioneering online resource, Endangered Heritage: Emergency Evacuation of Heritage Collections, developed in partnership with UNESCO.