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European exercise tests international cooperation in safeguarding cultural heritage

Ten years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine a European exercise focused on the protection of cultural heritage involving specialised teams from the European Union in the context of a disaster exceeding national response capacities.

In the scenario tested, Brussels and Walloon Brabant are hit by severe flooding. Emergency services are primarily deployed to save lives and secure critical infrastructure. Cultural heritage—both movable and immovable—is also heavily affected.

International assistance is activated through the European Union's (EU) Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM).

A French module, including the Paris Fire Brigade (Brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris) and Blue Shield France, is deployed in Belgium to support Belgian heritage stakeholders through safeguarding operations at several sites, including the Erasmus House Museum, the State Archives in Forest, and the Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude of Nivelles.

This hypothetical scenario (though based on very real risks) was developed and tested during a table-top exercise hosted at safe.brussels (1-5 June), under the coordination of the Federal Public Service Interior, safe.brussels, and the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC). The Sustainability Unit of KIK-IRPA contributed to the development of the cultural heritage scenarios and took part in the exercise within the scenario team. One of the objectives was to support the certification of the French module. A similar approach is also being developed in Germany through KulturGutRetter.

We would like to thank safe.brussels and Civil Protection for the invitation and the quality of the exchanges, as well as all partners involved in the exercise.

This exercise marks another step forward in integrating cultural heritage into European crisis management frameworks.