From 28 February to 3 March 2023, 17 experts from memory institutions across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond gathered to discuss training methodologies in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) for documentary heritage at risk.
Organized in Bangkok, Thailand, with the support of Japanese Funds-in-Trust provided by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan (MEXT) and facilitated by UNESCO Bangkok, some of the meeting’s objectives included collecting and sharing case studies and experiences from diverse countries and contexts, discussing the local community’s role and innovative methods in DRM, and designing the structure and contents of the forthcoming training toolkit.
UNESCO Bangkok Director Mr Shigeru Aoyagi opened the meeting by emphasizing the urgency of enhancing local capacities in preservation methods and DRM in the face of the serious threats affecting Asia and the Pacific.
Among the 17 experts in attendance representing 12 countries, MOWCAP Chairperson Mr Kwibae Kim highlighted MOWCAP’s efforts to protect documentary heritage in disaster situations, while MOWCAP Vice-Chair Dr Vu Thi Minh Huong shared the results of Viet Nam’s project to digitize the Nguyen imperial archive.
Following the case studies shared and input collected during the Experts’ Meeting, the training toolkit will be developed as the next phase of the project. The toolkit will compile contributions from the diverse experts who participated in the meeting and will be disseminated across the MOWCAP network, with future trainings to be organized on how to apply the toolkit’s contents to protect documentary heritage from disaster risks.
More information on this activity can be found on the UNESCO Bangkok website.