21 Sept. 2022 – Update: The Viking Ship Hall, Roskilde, Denmark

Whilst the initial ICOMOS Heritage Alert may have contributed to the positive decision not to demolish the hall immediately, and to include it in plans for the new museum site, a number of significant concerns and uncertainties persist and ICOMOS still considers its future to be threatened.

On 15 April 2019, a fierce fire ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris. Then, on 19 October 2019, the State Hall of Shuri-jô Castle in Naha (Okinawa, Japan) was again destroyed by fire. Such traumatic events were not the first time these monuments had suffered destruction, and after each loss, people wished to rebuild them as they were. In both cases, the strong emotion expressed by public opinion led to the decision to restore the monuments "Com'era Dov'era" [where and how it had been], to their original state. Why? 

On 15 September, join ICOMOS Germany and Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) in the follow-up event to the German Expert-Workshop in support of the UNESCO-ICOMOS-IPCC meeting on Culture, Heritage and Climate Change: its aim is to bring together climate and cultural heritage experts from multiple German research institutions as part of a wider initiative to bridge the two fields of study.

ICOMOS will be present at the UNESCO World Conference on  Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development that will be held in Mexico City from 28 to 30 September 2022. This conference is focused on embarking on new priorities for the cultural sector that is fully anchored to perspectives of sustainable development and integrated with the new realities affecting the sector brought forth by the climate crisis and the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since June, record monsoon rains and unprecedented flash floods in Pakistan have caused mounting casualties, especially among the most vulnerable, displaced millions, devastated homes, livelihoods, infrastructure, crops and livestock. An estimated 1/3 of the country is under water, with over 30 million people affected. The authorities of Pakistan have requested support from the international community in facing this overwhelming humanitarian catastrophe.

From now on, any ICOMOS member with the membership card will have free access to the World Heritage sites of the Republic of Korea!