 On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and in light of the rapidly changing geopolitical situation and the challenges posed by climate change, the handling of cultural property in times of crisis and exceptional circumstances has come increasingly into focus in recent years. A working group consisting of representatives from ICOM Austria, the Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media, and Sport (BMWKMS), the Federal Monuments Office (BDA), the Austrian Armed Forces (ÖBH), the Austrian National Commission for UNESCO (ÖUK), and the Austrian National Committee of Blue Shield, has therefore published “Emergency Management in Museums and Cultural Heritage Institutions” to provide a guide to emergency management: What preparations are necessary to be able to act in an emergency? How do I create evacuation plans or prioritization lists for the evacuation of cultural property? How do prevention, drills, and follow-up work together?  The publication was presented to a distinguished audience of experts at an event held on 21 January 2026. Representatives from museums and cultural heritage institutions, as well as stakeholders in the field of cultural property protection, accepted the invitation. Sabine Haag, President of the Austrian National Commission for UNESCO, and Johanna Schwanberg, President of ICOM Austria, opened the event on behalf of the host organizations together with Section Head Theresia Niedermüller (Art and Culture Section at the BMWKMS), Lieutenant General Karl Schmidseder (Head of Directorate 3 at the BMLV), Christoph Bazil (President of the Federal Monuments Office), and Anna Puhr (Secretary General of Blue Shield Austria, in memory of Karl Habsburg). Following this, the project team (Elke Kellner, ICOM Austria; Florian Meixner, ÖUK; Hannah Leodolter, BMWKMS; Anna Puhr, Blue Shield Austria) presented the contents of the publication and provided insights into the project’s progress as well as the structure of the handbook. Access the publication here. ++ Photos: Bundesdenkmalamt, Bettina Neubauer-Pregl ++
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