Disaster Preparedness for Museums This session is designed to provide museum professionals with essential knowledge and skills to prepare for and respond effectively to various types of disasters. Attendees will hear from experts representing several International Committees, each discussing different aspects of disaster preparedness, from risk assessment to emergency response and recovery. Speakers will cover common disasters such as natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, hurricanes), fires, and man-made emergencies, while offering practical methodologies for creating disaster preparedness plans, handling damaged collections, and managing limited resources. ——————– Programme: 11:45 (Paris) | 14:45 (Dubai) 11.45 – 11:50   Introduction: Diana Pardue 11:50   Vernon Rapley ICOM SECURITY 11:58   Goranka Harjan ICOM INTERCOM 12:06   Samuel Franco ICOM DRMC 12:14   Kate Seymour ICOM CONSERVATION 12:22   Cheeyun Kwon ICOM ICTOP 12:30   Interactive Workshop: Building Museum Disaster Preparedness Together   Participate in this interactive workshop on Padlet! Share your insights, questions, and experiences on disaster preparedness, engage with fellow attendees, and help build a collaborative resource to support museums in managing emergencies effectively. Padlet: https://padlet.com/ICOMCC_Solidarity_Projects/disaster-preparedness-for-museums-86aj5e89wwzw9jtc   Title: Emergency Planning: Risk Management Speaker: Vernon Rapley, ICOM SECURITY Vernon Rapley FSA is Director and Principal Consultant of Vernon Rapley Ltd, with 30+ years in art crime investigation and museum security. Chair of ICOM’s Museum Security Committee, he lectures internationally, founded multiple heritage security initiatives, and contributed to exhibitions, publications, and media on art crime.   Title: Leadership and Resource Management During Emergencies Speaker: Goranka Horjan, ICOM INTERCOM Dr. Goranka Horjan, PhD in information and communication sciences, is an art historian and director of Castle Trakošćan National Museum. Former Assistant Minister of Culture, she has led Croatian museums, chaired the European Museum Forum, and serves as INTERCOM president, skilled in leadership and stakeholder engagement.   Title: Ambulance of Culture Speaker: Samuel Franco, ICOM DRMC Samuel Franco is a Guatemalan sound engineer, videographer, and cultural first aider. Founder of Casa K’ojom, he documents, preserves, and shares Maya intangible cultural heritage. He has held leadership roles with ICCROM, Blue Shield Guatemala, ICOM LAC, and UNESCO’s Memory of the World program, working internationally in cultural emergency response.   Title: Disaster Preparedness: Floods Speaker: Kate Seymour, ICOM Conservation Kate Seymour is an internationally recognized paintings conservator and educator. Chair of ICOM-CC and Fellow of IIC, she founded Art Conservation Education in 2024. She lectures and leads workshops globally, advancing conservation through teaching and hands-on expertise.   Title: Training Resources and Post Disaster Speaker: Cheeyun Kwon, ICOM ICTOP Cheeyun Kwon is Professor and Chair of Arts & Cultural Management at Hongik University, Seoul, and serves on advisory boards including the Seoul City Public Art Committee and The Best in Heritage. Formerly a curator at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, and Smithsonian, she has published on Korean art, museums, and gender. She earned her Ph.D. from Princeton University.   Moderators Diana Pardue, ICOM DRMC Diana Pardue is Director of the Museum Services Division at the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, part of the U.S. National Park Service. Involved in the 1980s restoration creating the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, she oversees museum programming and cultural resources, including historic structures, archaeology, and ethnography.   Rita Capurro, ICOM ICTOP Rita Capurro is a lecturer at Università Milano-Bicocca and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, teaching Religious Tourism, History of Art, and Museology. Since 2007, she has coordinated the master’s program in Museology, Museography, and Cultural Goods Management. Her research focuses on musealisation of religious cultural heritage.