Emergency preparedness

Declaration

The first National Summit on Heritage and Risk Preparedness in Canada was held in Quebec City, Canada in September 1996. The goal of the summit was to increase mutual awareness of emergency response management and cultural heritage management concerns and to establish permanent structural links among all those involved with cultural heritage conservation. . The National Archives of Canada were actively involved in this summit, sponsored by ICOMOS Canada, with support from UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage Division, and continue to be involved in pursuing objectives in awareness, collaboration, building local capacity and strengthening enabling frame work for heritage protection. The following ‘Declaration’ was written as the outcome of this Summit:

Given the following:

Challenges

• The ever present and increasing vulnerability of Canadian and world cultural heritage inthe face of disasters and other events threatening the continuing life of that heritage;
• The generally poor state of preparedness for the protection of Canadian cultural heritage in times of emergency;
• The administrative obstacles limiting effective coordination among authorities responsible both for cultural heritage and for emergency response at federal, provincial and municipal levels.

Opportunities

• Existing emergency response infrastructure and mechanisms in Canada capable of integrating concern for cultural heritage, and the evident interest shown by officials responsible for emergency response to respond to concerns for increasing care and attention given to cultural heritage;
• The leadership of some Canadian institutions (e.g. National Archives of Canada) in developing preparedness models of value and interest for other groups and institutions;
• The focus offered by existing international Blue Shield initiative for improving the situation in Canada, given:
• The key role played by Canadians in the international movement (that is in the Inter-Agency Task Force Round Tables on the subject initiated by ICOMOS in 1992, and held regularly in Paris since then);
• The interest of UNESCO and ICOMOS in developing a "Canadian model" of risk preparedness;
• The potential offered by the creation of the International Committee of the Blue Shield whose first act was to respond to the Saguenay floods.

Therefore, we, the participants of the First National Summit on Heritage and Risk Preparedness in Canada held at the Musée de la Civilisation in Québec, on September 16-17, 1996, agree to pursue objectives in the following areas:

Awareness

• Increase appreciation of the nature and value of cultural heritage among those responsible for heritage and emergency response, and increase knowledge and understanding of potential risks and associated impacts of disasters of natural, technological and social origin threatening the heritage.
• Increase mutual awareness of emergency response management concerns and cultural heritage management concerns.
• Affirm importance of cultural heritage for those threatened by loss;
• Recognize strong link between effective heritage protection and clear identification of heritage values in the built environment;
• Better continuing appreciation of the concerns of the public, the youth and the media;
• Improve understanding of local authorities of concerns for cultural heritage protection.

Collaboration

• Establish permanent structural links among all those involved with cultural heritage conservation (archives, libraries, museums, built environment) and with emergency response authorities (civil security, emergency response, public security, defense):
• Identification of potential partners (governments, institutions, corporations and individuals) and their interests;
• Developing network(s) for exchange among those concerned with these issues at local, national and international levels;
• Ensuring effective communication among network members (e.g. electronic mail newslists);
• Providing occasional forums for exchange among network members, including follow-up to this Summit meeting;
• Developing Task Force/Working Group to guide collaboration following the Summit.

Building local capacity

• Clarify roles and responsibilities of local authorities in heritage protection (decision-making structures in times of emergency; policies for territorial environmental planning and management).
• Improve capacity of local authorities, services and local institutions to improve care for cultural heritage threatened by disasters.
• Integrate concern for cultural heritage in existing structures for risk management and emergency response (for example, in methods of risk assessment, intervention planning and implementation);
• Improved knowledge of appropriate "models" in other contexts;
• Improved training for responsible officials and managers;
• Increased opportunities for volunteer participation.

Strengthening enabling framework for heritage protection

• At local, regional, provincial, national and international levels:
• Develop and install early warning detection and surveillance systems;
• Improved data-bases of experiences and success models for consultation and improve accessibility to data bases;
• Ensure commitment of authorities concerned to mobilization of appropriate professional experience in times of disaster;
• Development of emergency response mobilization plans.

Emergency Preparedness | Guide on Emergency and Disaster Control