UNTSI CPP course success

Blue Shield was excited to co-organise the third Cultural Property Protection Course in the Curragh, Ireland, together with the Irish Defence Forces, Blue Shield Ireland, and the UN Training School in Ireland (UNTSI). Cultural property is the physical representation of who we our: it helps show and define our identity, and  represents the spirit and purpose of humanity. Protecting it can help contribute to healthy, peaceful, secure, sustainable societies – but its loss in times of crisis can cause increased tension and violence.

The course put international humanitarian law into practice. 135 countries, including Ireland and the UK, have ratified the  primary piece of international law protecting cultural property during conflict: The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The Convention calls on its States Parties to safeguard cultural property, and expects their armed forces to respect it. But what does that mean in practice?

The course is designed to teach students how to advise military commanders on the protection of cultural property, taking theory out of the classroom and into operations. Participants received a strong theoretical foundation for CPP in military operations (primarily peacekeeping operations), with contributions from the organisers, and Maj. Anna Maria Kaiser of the Austrian Armed Forces. Blue Shield International was delighted to be represented by by Professor Nigel Pollard of Swansea University. The participants also enjoyed immensely valuable remote contributions from the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL. They were able to discuss their experiences – for example, participants contributed their experience of conditions on the ground in the UNIFIL area of operations, before putting their knowledge into practice. The course concluded with a major simulated exercise at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, and at the Military Archives.

Forty-five participants, primarily from Irish Defence Forces, but also from the Garda and Irish government and cultural institutions, we well as international military students, academics and civilian practitioners from the UK, Netherlands, Austria, and Germany attended the week long course from 20-24 January 2025. 

Now in its third year, participant feedback rates the course “excellent” and praise it for advancing their knowledge of cultural property protection.

UNTSI trains Irish Defence Forces personnel for deployment on peacekeeping duties, particularly in UNIFIL, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, where the impact of conflict on cultural heritage is very much a current issue.