The field trip planned within the scope of the Joint project of Georgian National Committee of the Blue Shield and International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) , ” Community Centred Tools for Sustaining Cultural Heritage and Building Disaster Resilience” was undertaken in Racha-Lechkhumi and Lower Svaneti region between July 28th and August 2nd, 2019.
This joint activity is conceived within the framework of First Aid and Resilience for Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis (FAR). Through targeted training and sharing of knowledge, FAR enables communities, cultural heritage professionals, humanitarians and emergency responders to work together and reduce risks of damage and destruction. The targeted activities for disaster resilience include developing community based tools for vulnerability and capacity assessment (VCA), providing guidance and advice to Member State institutions for formulating national policies and preparing Disaster Risk Management plans for various types of heritage sites and institutions.
Within the project, a series of meetings and exercises were held in Ambrolauri and Oni (Racha, Georgia), involving up to 30 local participants, 2 international and 3 local experts in the field of cultural heritage protection and disaster risk reduction.
Meetings and exercises were attended by local community representatives working in various fields (culture, arts, agriculture), as well as employees of local emergency management, monument protection, cultural and social services.
The local community members, with the help of the project team have identified priority lists of both tangible and intangible, as well as natural heritage of Oni and Ambrolauri districts. The major risks the region faces and the existing and necessary mechanisms to deal with them were also identified
Participants to the event © BS Georgia, 2019
