Finding Common Ground: Collaborative Training for the Cultural Heritage and Emergency Response Communities
Six
state-wide training workshops and the production of on-line educational
materials on disaster planning, response, and recovery, for 200 cultural
heritage professionals and first responders in Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts Board of
Library Commissioners, on behalf of the cultural heritage emergency network
COSTEP MA, the MA Archives, the MA Cultural Council, the New England Museum
Association, and the MA Department of Fire Services will build on 25 years of
the MBLC's statewide preservation activities and the more recent work of COSTEP
MA to bring together the cultural heritage, municipal administration, and
emergency responder communities in a pilot project for a national program on
disaster preparedness and response. Jointly taught by preservation specialists
and firefighting professionals, six workshops will address preservation, risk
assessment and mitigation, disaster planning, disaster recovery, and salvage of
cultural heritage materials from the perspectives of cultural stewards and
emergency responders. The face-to-face curriculum will be turned into an online
course that will be made freely available by COSTEP MA for adaptation and
delivery by other states and territories.