2017 ICOMOS Guidance Post Trauma Recovery

The background for issuing this document is set by the scale, persistence and nature of destructive events of recent times. These dramatic losses, the results of natural processes and human action, have renewed awareness of the vulnerability of our cultural inheritance – heritage which includes places whose attributes are of ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ (OUV) – and awareness of the commitment of the overall international community to the common purpose of preserving and transmitting it to future generations. The magnitude of natural disasters such as those that have affected Nepal, Cuba or Italy, and the destruction, whether intentional or not, caused by armed conflicts on sites in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, the former Yugoslavia and Mali among many others, create unprecedented challenges for recovery and possible restoration.