Western Balkans Hub

Partner organization: Cultural Heritage Without Borders (CHwB) Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Since: 2020

Region of action: Western Balkans

Overview: The Western Balkans have limited capacity to coordinate a joint response from civil protection and cultural heritage institutions in the event of crisis. Furthermore, heritage protection is not widely integrated in emergency response protocols and there are few trained experts in cultural heritage risk preparedness, mitigation, and response.

Extent and sources of risks: High and posed by natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes and floods, and man-made disasters such as pollution and accidental fires.

Heritage at risk: Archaeological sites and historical cities and villages; museums and their collections; archives and libraries.

Main goals and activities

• Become the emergency response centre for the region
• Pursue capacity building and risk mapping, mitigation and preparedness
• Promote the integration of cultural first aid in disaster response mechanisms

Partner profile

Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB) was founded in April 1995 in response to the massive need for aid resulting from the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in the spirit of the 1954 Hague Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict, natural catastrophe, neglect, poverty or political and social conflict. The destruction of cultural monuments during the war had been extensive and systematic and had awoken the world to the urgent need for development assistance and protection. This Hub is coordinated in full partnership between the Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB) organisations in Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.