Protecting Cultural Heritage from Disasters

Christopher E Marrion PE, FSFPE, NFPA, APTI, MScFPE

ICOMOS : ICORP
Marrion Fire & Risk Consulting PE, LLC, NY, USA
chris.marrion@marrionconsulting.com
What is Cultural Heritage??
What is Cultural Heritage?
Tangible cultural heritage: immovable

Buildings
What is Cultural Heritage?
Tangible cultural heritage: immovable

Bridges/Structures
What is Cultural Heritage?
Tangible cultural heritage: immovable

Structures/Ships
What is Cultural Heritage?
Tangible cultural heritage: immovable

Monuments
What is Cultural Heritage?

Monuments
What is Cultural Heritage?
Tangible cultural heritage: movable
What is Cultural Heritage?
Natural heritage
What is Cultural Heritage?

Tangible cultural heritage: Underwater

What is Cultural Heritage?

Intangible cultural heritage (oral traditions, performing arts, rituals)

What is Cultural Heritage – Role in Community and Identity

• Meeting places to strengthen relationships

• Physical anchors within a community
• A sense of local and regional identity
• A sense of belonging
• Maintain community pride
What is Cultural Heritage: Heritage & Sacred Sites

A place for….
• developing spirituality
• seeking higher knowledge, wisdom
• physical, emotional, and spiritual healing
• connecting with our past
• connecting with our future
• Connecting with our children who may be
able to experience the same.
Significance of Cultural Heritage - Community ‘Ownership’
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt

• Response/Recovery
• Coordinating volunteers

In January 2011, thousands of Egypt's students, library workers, and

demonstrators surrounded the great Library of Alexandria and joined
hands, forming a human chain to protect the building. They chanted
"We love you, Egypt!" as they stood together for the freedom the library
represented.

“Hands Around the Library” Protecting Egypt's Treasured Books, Jan 2011.
 The Need to
Protect Our Cultural Heritage
We continue losing our Heritage to Disasters
Natural Disasters

Earthquakes Volcanoes

Floods Avalanches/Landslides
We continue losing our Heritage to Disasters
Natural Disasters

Fire Tsunamis

Hurricanes Wildfires
We continue losing our Heritage to Disasters
Man-Made Disasters

Buddhas of Bamiyan Kasubi Tombs

Iraq/Syria Tombs, Timbuktu

The Need to Protect Cultural Heritage from Disasters

Benefits and Potential Opportunities Incorporating in DRR

 Improves quality of life
 Saves lives, reduces those impacted
 Helps Inform Safer Structures & Sites
 Economic Value and Opportunity

 Increases communities’ resilience

Incorporating the protection of cultural
heritage in DRR can….
 Can Assist in Creating Awareness
and
Engaging Community in Prevention
Helps Engage Communities: Awareness, Early Warning & Emergency Response
Helps Engage Communities: Awareness, Early Warning & Emergency Response

• Awareness
• Prevention
• Detection, Notification, Response, Suppression
• Close coordination: e.g. businesses, heritage
managers, emergency responders, local city
authorities, local communities, et al.

Kyoto Japan, awareness, early detection, notification

Helps Engage Community: Awareness, Early Warning & Emergency Response

• regular emergency drills

• close coordination with local emergency services.
• Awareness, prevention, emergency response
 Can Protect Lives &
Reduce Those Impacted
Protecting Lives
Area of Refuge/Safety
Traditional Knowledge
Helps Inform
Safer Structures
Help Inform Safer Structures
Traditional Knowledge

• Traditional knowledge
• local building techniques,
• materials,
• Methods
• preventing/mitigating/responding
to/recovering from disasters.
• Tried/tested over centuries
• proven effective in addressing various
disasters
• Look locally and internationally.
Help Inform Safer Structures
Traditional Knowledge
Help Inform Safer Structures
Traditional Knowledge
Structures - Resisting hazards: Learning from what is left vs what is not left
Help Inform Safer Structures
Traditional Knowledge
Resisting Earthquakes - Gingerbread Houses, Haiti, 2010
Help Inform Safer Structures
Traditional Knowledge

The Earthquake Survivors

Kashmir Earthquake 2005
Help Inform Safer Structures
Traditional Knowledge
Gujarat Earthquake 2001

Traditional Masonry Constructions

Wood Frames with masonry infill
Help Inform Safer Sites
Help Inform Safer Sites
Traditional Knowledge

Minamisanriku-cho in
Disaster affected
Heritage as Refuge during Tohoku Area, Japan
Emergency
Can Assist in Response & Recovery
Can Assist in Response and Recovery

Protecting Heritage Helps In

• Response/Recovery
• Coordinating volunteers

Florence, Italy – 1964 Flood

Can Assist in Response and Recovery Protecting Heritage Helps In
• Response/Recovery
• Coordinating volunteers
Economic Value & Opportunity
Economic Value & Opportunity

• Cultural heritage tourism: a significant

revenue stream.
• European Cultural Heritage generates
• over 340.000 million EUR annually,
Protecting Cultural Heritage Tourism
(10% of EU GDP) contributes to:
• employing ~10m citizens • employment
• ~2m businesses • regional development
• sustainable development
• Cultural Heritage conservation market: • protected natural and cultural heritage
estimated at 5.000 million EUR per year. • maintaining a region’s identity.

• Investing in DRR of cultural heritage

will help in protecting the local
economy, livelihoods, safety.

Ref. [1] European Commission (2013) EU Research - Cultural

Heritage. Publications Office of the European Union.
Economic Value & Opportunity
Economic Value & Opportunity

Cutty Sark (1869) Fire: 2007

Fire related damage: USD 10 mil
Approx 2 mil visitors/yr: USD 25 mil/yr
Broader Community USD 10mil? 25ml?
Economic Value & Opportunity

Cutty Sark (1869) Fire: 2007

Fire related damage: USD 10 mil
Approx 2 mil visitors/yr: USD 25 mil/yr
Broader Community USD 10mil? 25ml?

Vs Impact on economies
Fire Prevention/Mitigation USD100,000 ??? Broad cost-benefit
Protecting Our Cultural Heritage: Going Forward

Benefits and Potential Opportunities

 Improves quality of life
 Saves lives, reduces those impacted
 Helps Inform Safer Structures & Sites
 Economic Value and Opportunity

 Increases Communities’ resilience

Protecting Our Cultural Heritage: Going Forward

Training
Capacity building
Raising awareness
Projects
Protecting Our Cultural Heritage: Going Forward
Protecting Our Cultural Heritage: Going Forward

Post 2015 Framework

Ten Essentials (Resilient Cities)

Sustainable Development Goals

 Summary
 We need to incorporate culture and heritage into DRR
 Protecting Heritage Supports a Communities’ Resilience.
 We can learn from its traditional knowledge to be more resilient
 A culture of ‘prevention over recovery’ has numerous benefits, including
saving lives and protecting our cultural heritage.
Protecting Cultural Heritage from Disasters

Christopher E Marrion PE, FSFPE, NFPA, APTI, MScFPE

ICOMOS : ICORP
Marrion Fire & Risk Consulting PE, LLC, NY, USA
chris.marrion@marrionconsulting.com