UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office in collaboration with the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO and the National Library and Archive Organization of Iran organized an online introductory workshop on “Managing disaster risk for documentary heritage” on 24 and 25 August 2021.The aim of this event was to improve the capacities of memory institutes in Iran to better prepare for disasters facing documentary heritage by devising mitigation and preparedness strategies and developing action plans for protecting documentary heritage.
This event which was facilitated by a team from ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) brought together 40 experts from libraries, Iranian National Memory of the World Committee, museums, archives and documentation centers from different cities across the country.
Mr Cvetan Cvetkovski, Officer-in-Charge of UNESCO Tehran who delivered the opening remarks at the workshop stated that Iran is a country prone to different type of disasters and pointed to the new “Disaster Management Law” in Iran which focuses on prevention and risk reduction, as opposed to response. He emphasized:
We should use this momentum to build and strengthen the capacities for effective risk management for cultural heritage and focus on better planning in disaster risk reduction and the sustainable preservation of documentary heritage. We cannot prevent disasters, but we can prepare better for them to preserve our documentary heritage. We can mitigate the effects of disasters by reducing hazards, vulnerabilities and exposure to risks.
The opening remarks was followed by contributions from Dr Hojjatollah Ayoubi, Secretary General of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO and Dr Ashraf Boroujerdi, Head of National Library of Iran who both emphasized on the importance of training in this field. Dr Boroujerdi also mentioned the need for equipping memory institutes with modern technologies to digitize documentary heritage as a way to protect and make them permanently accessible.
Through interactive and engaging sessions, participants carried out exercises for mapping stakeholders in disaster risk management for documentary heritage and learned about first aid to documentary heritage, emergency response and early recovery methods.
It was an excellent and a very useful training. It made me think of developing an action plan for protection of documentary heritage against disasters in my organization, and also of setting up a committee in collaboration with different libraries, archives and museums to advance further in this field.
What was very interesting for me was the new methods for prevention and disaster management. Using real life examples together with photos and videos, made the training even more thought-provoking.