Phase 2 of READY Track 01 brings together 25 participants from over 20 countries in Latvia for hands-on training to strengthen skills, coordination, and resilience in protecting cultural heritage from disasters, extreme weather, and armed conflicts.
Supported by technical partners, experts, and policy makers in Latvia, this in-person phase builds on an intensive online component and focuses on enhancing disaster risk management capacities and exploring heritage's role in climate action, community resilience, and sustainable recovery.
Riga, Latvia | 21 July 2025 — In response to the growing risks of climate-induced disasters, armed conflicts, and complex emergencies, ICCROM has launched the in-person phase of READY Track 1 — Safeguarding Heritage Collections, Living Traditions and Practices. This two-week immersive training, hosted by the Ministry of Culture of Latvia, brings together 25 professionals from over 20 countries — representing national museums, libraries, archives, intangible heritage departments, civil protection, and disaster risk management agencies — for intensive, hands-on learning and simulations, to better protect cultural heritage during crises.
Building Resilience through Partnership
READY Track 01 is implemented by ICCROM's First Aid and Resilience for Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis (FAR) Programme, with funding from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Culture and Sport under the Creative Europe Programme. The initiative is supported by 17 technical partners spanning diverse institutions across the cultural heritage and disaster risk management fields.
Following a four-week online foundational course, this in-person phase is the second of a four-part capacity development effort, which will culminate in field projects and a virtual conference aimed at sharing insights widely and informing future policy.
The training aims to:
- Strengthen inter-agency coordination.
- Expand existing networks for heritage protection.
- Activate traditional knowledge and local practices to strengthen resilience, disaster risk reduction, climate action, and social cohesion.
- Promote professional capacity across the heritage, emergency, and climate sectors in all phases of disaster response: before, during, and after a crisis.
A Systems-Based Approach to Safeguarding Heritage
READY Track 01 is a hybrid, interdisciplinary training that adopts a systems-based approach to managing disaster, conflict, and climate risks to heritage collections and living traditions. With Phase 1 now complete, participants have been introduced to foundational concepts and ICCROM-FAR’s dedicated tools and methodology for conducting comprehensive disaster risk assessments for movable and intangible heritage.
Disasters are no longer rare, one-off events. Their growing scale and speed often overwhelm national and local emergency systems, and external help may be delayed. That’s why this course emphasizes community-centred disaster risk management.
Participants will also explore how to address a range of threats, from cyberattacks and conflict to extreme weather, while understanding underlying risk drivers like instability, migration, and rapid urbanization.
From Story Circles to Simulations
The READY Track 01 training in Latvia is structured around case-based, experiential learning, covering real-world emergencies from Ukraine, Egypt, the U.S., and beyond. The training is delivered by a diverse teaching team that includes field practitioners, alumni of ICCROM’s FAR programme and academic experts in conservation, risk governance, emergency response, and climate action.
The curriculum covers:
- Evacuation and stabilization drills for movable heritage
- First aid methods for intangible heritage
- Inter-agency tabletop exercises
- Team-based salvage and scenario planning
- Training with the fire and rescue services
The training culminates in a full-scale, multi-hazard simulation at the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia, where participants confront a fictional emergency involving armed conflict and wildfire. Working in multi-disciplinary teams, they will assess cascading risks, authorize access, stabilize collections, and coordinate salvage and evacuation, mirroring the complexities of real-world crisis response.
A Call to Action at Riga Castle
The training was inaugurated at the Riga Castle — a fitting symbol of resilience and recovery, having been carefully restored after a devastating fire — by Minister of Culture Agnese Lāce, alongside online welcome addresses from ICCROM Director General, Aruna Francesca Maria Gujral and Director for Culture, Creativity and Sport, European Commission, Georg Häusler.
Aruna Francesca Maria Gujral, Director-General, ICCROM:
“Protecting heritage in times of crisis is a shared responsibility. This initiative is the beginning of a larger cascading capacity-building programme. As future trainers, you will help amplify this knowledge within your institutions and networks, making risk-informed heritage protection a local reality.”
Agnese Lāce, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Latvia:
"Cultural heritage shapes national identity, and it is extremely important that we see real action for the preservation and protection of cultural heritage not only in Latvia but also in an international context. In Latvia, this year we have approved a plan for the protection of cultural heritage in crisis situations, while continuing active discussions about the preparedness of the cultural sector for crises at the European level. We are honored to host such a wide range of experts in Riga these weeks and to contribute to strengthening Europe’s collective resilience," said Minister of Culture Agnese Lāce.
This was followed by a high-level panel where experts from the European Commission (DG ECHO), UNESCO, Europa Nostra, the Latvian National Museum of Art, the State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and the Turathuna Foundation stressed the urgent need for cross-sector collaboration, people-centred approaches, and proactive risk governance in protecting heritage in today’s “polycrisis” landscape.
What’s Next: Translating Knowledge into Action
Following two-weeks of in-person training — involving daily simulations, team-building exercises, and intensive scenario work — participants will enter the seven-month long Phase 3: Follow-up Field Projects, from August 2025 to February 2026, with remote mentoring from ICCROM. They will lead projects in their home countries, designing context-specific strategies to improve preparedness and strengthen local systems for protecting heritage in crisis contexts.
About READY
READY — Resilience for Heritage in the Face of Disasters, Climate Risks and Complex Emergencies — is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at strengthening capacities for protecting all forms of heritage from intensifying threats, such as climate change-induced hazards, disasters, and complex emergencies, in Europe and beyond.
READY Track 1 — Safeguarding Heritage Collections, Living Traditions and Practices — emphasizes a systems-based approach to managing disaster, conflict, and extreme climate risks to heritage collections — whether in museums, libraries, archives, or places of worship, as well as to living traditions and associated knowledge systems.
Contacts
ICCROM
communications@iccrom.org
Lita Kokale
Head of Public Relations Unit
E-mail: Lita.Kokale@km.gov.lv
Phone (+371) 26469946
Ministry of Culture Republic of Latvia
11A K. Valdemāra street, Riga, LV-1364, Latvia
www.km.gov.lv
pasts@km.gov.lv