International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
GML Heritage is at the forefront of disaster risk management.
October 13 is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, promoting a global culture of risk awareness, disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction.
Australia has experienced significant natural disasters including floods, droughts, wildfires and extreme weather events which have affected cultural heritage and collections.
GML Heritage is at the forefront of disaster risk management. Led by GML Principal Catherine Forbes, our experience working with cultural heritage in disaster situations includes risk assessment and disaster risk management for local, state, national and World Heritage sites and historic precincts in Australia and overseas, emergency response for heritage, post disaster damage assessments, recovery planning and monitoring of heritage sites.
GML is currently working with NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service on a bushfire vulnerability assessment framework for historic heritage across the state. We are also advising Transport for NSW on the requirements for preparing a Heritage Disaster Risk Management Strategy and Climate Change Adaption Plan for their Sydney Working Harbour assets.
Our team in Victoria recently worked with the Heritage Council of Victoria and Heritage Victoria on stage 2 of the Heritage and Climate Change Project. This involved developing a series of case studies that investigate the impacts of climate change on Victoria’s built, landscape, and archaeological places and the management strategies to counter these impacts.
In September, GML coordinated a panel session at ICOMOS GA2023 on understanding vulnerability and building resilience for heritage affected by wildfire and flood.
Other GML projects include the landmark heritage disaster risk management strategy for The Rocks in Sydney, a hazard scoping study for the Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area on Norfolk Island, one of Australia’s World Heritage Convict Sites, post cyclone damage assessment and recovery planning for nationally significant heritage sites on Tongatapu, and post fire recovery of Parramatta Public School.
