On 2-4 December 2019, with the initiative of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia and with the support of TAIEX, the mission of international experts on the protection and risk management of immovable and movable monuments of the Georgian cultural heritage during emergencies was carried out.
The aim of the mission was, to evaluate the situation in terms of risk prevention and management to cultural heritage, introduction of the participants to the European legislation, strategies and best practices and, on that basis, to develop recommendations for the development of the Strategy and Action Plan for the preparation of the risk preparedness plans cultural heritage institutions.
The three-day workshop was led by Adele Chase (Project Director and Coordinator of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Italy) and Luis Carvalho (Civil Defense Coordinator of the Municipality of Amadora, Portugal). Workshops were attended by representatives of various museums, National Guard of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia, Georgian National Committee of Blue Shield and Emergency Management Service.
Within the scope of the workshop, Chairman of the Georgian National Committee of the Blue Shield, Manana Tevzadze introduced the situation in the direction of cultural heritage protection in emergencies, the review of the conducted and ongoing projects of the organization and the issues that need to be addressed urgently in order to improve risk preparedness and assist effective response.
On the last day of the workshop participants had a practical training in developing a risk preparedness plan.