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PRESERVATION IN
PERIL
Disaster Preparedness, Rapid Response,
and Sustainable Recovery in the 21st Century
Deadline for abstract submittal is 31 October 2008
(please read all information below carefully before submitting an
abstract)
Heritage sites and their stewardship are vital to community identity
and cohesiveness, the development and enhancement of civic life,
and fostering and maintaining the goal for public participation
that are the basis of American society and are a major contribution
to efforts in cultural diplomacy abroad. The participation of U.S.
preservationists in the international heritage community helps build
strong bridges with other nations, particularly when planning for
and providing international disaster preparedness and relief assistance.
Learning from the experience of other countries and cultures is
also crucial to the U.S. ability to develop better plans.
During times of disaster, the need for human survival is the first
priority, yet efforts to rebuild infrastructure and re-house displaced
populations are underway within a short time. Large-scale natural
disasters in recent years include Hurricanes Katrina, Gustaf, Ike
and Rita and their effects on New Orleans, the Gulf Coast and the
entire Caribbean region; earthquakes in Iran and China; the tsunami
in Southeast Asia; floods throughout the U.S. Midwest, in northern
and central Europe, and in South America, India, Bangladesh and
South East Asia; the growing desertification in Africa; and raging
fires at important sites in England and Greece, among numerous other
examples. Given trends in global climate change and its effects,
such phenomena, and others, are likely to have an increasingly profound
effect on heritage sites.
Heritage preservation is a vital tool for rebuilding the social,
economic, and environmental assets of communities. Without proper
planning and preparedness, heritage resources that may have survived
the initial disaster can be further harmed during rebuilding efforts
or through lack of such initiatives. In addition to the community-buildingor
rebuildingfunctions of heritage sites, many communities depend
on economic activity derived from heritage tourism, rendering rapid
response and recovery for heritage sites a core issue for the economic
recovery of communities struck by disasters.
Theme of the 2009 US/ICOMOS International Symposium
The 2009 US/ICOMOS International Symposium will address recurrent
issues of disaster preparedness, rapid response, and sustainable
recovery utilizing examples from across the U.S. and around the
world that have dealt with flood, fire, earthquake, and other natural
and human-induced threats to heritage sites. Presentations will
highlight critically-assessed lessons learned. Specifically, the
symposium will include:
- A pre-conference mobile workshop on the Mississippi Gulf Coast;
- Presentations by invited speakers with experience in heritage
management in times of disaster; and
- Field sessions throughout New Orleans neighbourhoods during
the conference.
Through symposium activities, participants will gain first-hand
exposure to the range of issues and the challenges for preparedness
and response. By assessing existing models and through dialogue
with presenters, participants will have the opportunity to compare
and evaluate practices to find effective and sustainable strategies
for use in the U.S. and abroad.
US/ICOMOS is confident that the symposium exchanges and its results
will promote national, regional and local models of preparedness,
response and recovery for heritage sites. The resulting plan toward
developing a model will better protect the cultural heritage of
the U.S. and also play a significant role in fostering international
cooperation in heritage recovery efforts throughout the world. A
final report to be prepared upon completion of the symposium will
provide a framework for a disaster preparedness, rapid response,
and sustainable recovery model that can be built upon and implemented
within in the U.S and elsewhere. It will also help shape U.S. assistance
provided overseas.
Call for Abstracts (due 31 October 2008)
Therefore, US/ICOMOS seeks abstracts that discuss innovative,
successful programs and partnerships involving collaboration in
international preservation within these three broad areas:
- disaster preparedness and planning,
- rapid response by preservation/conservation professionals;
and
- sustainable recovery efforts following damage by disasters
to heritage sites.
US/ICOMOS is particularly interested in receiving abstracts from
ICOMOS members overseas and from the international community at
large.
Instructions for Submitting an Abstract (please read carefully)
- Abstracts must be received in US/ICOMOS by 31 October 2008
- Maximum text of 250 words in English
- US/ICOMOS will accept electronic (Microsoft Word or Adobe pdf
files only) or hard copy abstracts
- Abstracts may be accompanied by one (1) illustration only
- The page with the abstracts must contain AT THE TOP the title
of the proposed paper, the name of the author(s), and contact
information (institutional affiliate, mailing address, phone number
and email address)
A committee of distinguished preservationists will evaluate all
abstracts. Authors selected for paper presentations will be notified
by 10 December 2008. Non-complying abstracts may not be considered.
Send Abstracts To:
Please, send your abstracts –
- by e-mail to: don.jones@usicomos.org
or
- by fax to 1-202-842-1861 or
- by courier/regular air mail (please, no return mail signature
requests nor registered mail):
US/ICOMOS
Attn: 12th Symposium Abstracts
401 F Street NW, Suite 331
Washington DC 20001-2728
Note: Each year, US/ICOMOS has made every effort
to secure grants and monetary contributions to help defray travel,
lodging, and registration costs for international speakers selected
to present papers. While US/ICOMOS cannot guarantee that such funding
will be available in 2009, we will try once again to secure such
support.
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