What the CPF-CER partnership tells us about protecting endangered heritage
At Heritage in Action: Learning from Practices from Palestine, the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund (CPF) and Cultural Emergency Response (CER) announced their three-year strategic partnership in response to the growing need for a stronger, more coordinated international approach to protecting endangered cultural heritage in crisis.
This partnership will tackle the urgent and under-served needs of communities’ living heritage in crises– such as traditions, customs, and practices. This is especially important given the increasing evidence linking heritage protection to improved wellbeing and community resilience as well as contributing to economic stability and recovery.
This UK-Dutch partnership builds on what already works. Since 2020, CPF and CER have worked on a range of joint emergency response actions built on shared values and complementary strengths. With CER leading on fund allocation and monitoring, evaluation and learning, and CPF assessing emergencies, this close collaboration has yielded results. Together, they have worked directly with local partners and experts on the ground and spearheaded an innovative pooled funding mechanism in response to the Beirut Blast, and delivered impact in Palestine, Syria, Ukraine and more. This shared history now underpins the next chapter of a stronger partnership.
The Cultural Protection Fund is proud to be announcing this partnership with Cultural Emergency Response at a time when the need to protect what communities value is greater than ever. We have worked together with CER for many years with a shared understanding that strong international collaboration is vital to protect the world’s valuable cultural heritage. We now have a formal, three-year agreement to connect our knowledge, networks and resources which will enable us to work faster and more strategically when emergencies arise.
From March 2026 to March 2029, CPF and CER will continue to develop mechanisms that enable faster and more effective responses to protecting endangered heritage where it is needed most. The partnership will:
- support emergency interventions that stabilise endangered heritage and mitigate irreversible loss caused by critical events;
- maintain a jointly coordinated emergency fund capable of rapid deployment in response to cultural emergencies;
- prioritise countries on the DAC list of ODA recipients, particularly those with limited access to funding and high exposure to climate-related risks;
- share lessons learned and practical knowledge with stakeholders across the field to strengthen future emergency response strategies.
Amid increasingly frequent and severe emergencies caused by armed conflict, climate-related disasters, and political instability, this UK–Dutch partnership highlights the value of collaboration and cultural diplomacy in protecting heritage at risk.
We are living in a time when cultural heritage is increasingly under pressure, and standing up for its protection is not optional — it is essential. Through this partnership, Cultural Emergency Response and the Cultural Protection Fund are contributing to a stronger and more unified cultural emergency response sector, paving the way for greater cross-sector collaboration, and for recognising cultural protection as a vital condition for more just and peaceful societies.
Photo: Stabilisation of manuscripts evacuated from Dar al Saada manuscript centre, Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud (CISS), Palestine, 2025
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