Implementing a Pre‐disaster Recovery Workshop in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines: lessons for disaster risk assessment, response, and recovery for cultural heritage

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals have included cultural heritage in the development agenda. However, natural hazards threaten the existence of several historic districts, like Intramuros in Manila, Philippines. Pre‐disaster recovery planning has gained ground as a promising approach to improve disaster preparedness and recovery, although it has yet to be widely utilised for cultural heritage preservation. The authors organised a pre‐disaster recovery planning workshop, which helped observe the existing system of disaster management for cultural heritage in Intramuros. Heritage Values and Vulnerability Assessments, which were presented to heritage experts, disaster managers, and the local community at the workshop, were conducted. As disaster risk management for cultural heritage is largely unexplored, the workshop generated much interest among stakeholders, as this was the first time that contact had been facilitated among them. It successfully demonstrated the benefits of pre‐disaster recovery planning to provide inclusive and better recovery outcomes for historic districts.

Policy Recommendations for Integrating Resilience into the Management of Cultural Landscapes

“…A memorandum of understanding, for example, may be adequate as long as the stakeholders can agree on set objectives, timelines, and desired outcomes. With agreements in place, the disaster risk reduction of cultural landscapes may better handle financial issues and encourage prevention strategies [91,92].…”

Disaster Preparedness of the Historic Churches (House of Worship) in the Province of Cavite

“…it comes to natural disasters. The regular inspection of the structures' integrity, which is applicable to tangible cultural heritage sites, is the most crucial component of sustainability when it comes to cultural heritage sites (Florentin et al, 2022). Every five years should be the recommended frequency for doing the soundness test to ensure the structural integrity of the building.…”

“…Finally, the findings on historical churches disaster preparedness showed that all of the respondents believed that historical churches disaster preparedness is highly essential because such places are old and have great value to it. Additionally, historical churches ought to endure so that future generations can enjoy and value them as a part of the neighborhood.Disaster preparedness of cultural heritage places is very significant because this might assist limit the negative effect in case a disaster occurs, as stressed by Florentin et al (2022). In addition, responding to problems after they have occurred is more expensive than proactively planning and implementing mitigation strategies.…”

“…The respondents also mentioned that floods may be avoided if there were government initiatives and projects that would also benefit historical churches. The government's efforts are the most important component in preventing floods in these historical museums (Florentin et al, 2022). An important consideration when assessing a cultural heritage site's vulnerability to disasters, disaster preparedness, and disaster management is government initiatives.…”

“…Therefore, the focus on the Cultural Heritage sites disaster management plan is focused on pre-disaster efforts, during which is the response and the recovery part in case a cultural Heritage site has been affected by a disaster or a calamity. Pre-disaster planning involves identifying the risk and prepared some tools that is needed in order to minimize the damage a disaster that could affect the cultural heritage site, response is about the appropriate action that is required in order for the cultural heritage site to be receptive once a disaster strikes and the recovery in which it addresses the need of a cultural heritage site once there is a damage that was done (Florentin et al, 2022). Due to the structures' age, cultural heritage sites are especially vulnerable to calamities.…”