Fondazione Santagata has been entrusted with updating the Disaster Risk Management Plan for the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto”, as part of the broader ongoing support process for updating the site’s Management Plan.
Context
The site, which includes Portovenere, the five villages of the Cinque Terre, and the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto, has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997 under criteria (ii), (iv) and (v). Its Outstanding Universal Value is recognized for its distinctive terracing system, its historic agricultural landscape, and the relationship between cultural heritage, environment and local communities.
Closely connected to the site’s Management Plan, the new Disaster Risk Management Plan responds to the need to integrate risk management into the site’s protection and enhancement strategies. The growing pressures linked to climate change, hydrogeological vulnerability, increasing tourist flows, and the socio-economic transformations affecting historic centres and traditional activities call for tools capable of strengthening the site’s resilience and its ability to prevent and address the critical issues that could compromise its cultural and landscape value.
Objectives
The project involves the development of a new Disaster Risk Management Plan, in line with UNESCO Guidelines, the recommendations of International Agencies, and the site’s Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (SOUV).
The Plan’s objective is to strengthen the site’s capacity to prevent, address and manage risks through an integrated approach to the protection, conservation, enhancement and use of its heritage.
To achieve these objectives, the Plan will define a strategy structured into action plans, objectives and related actions, assessing their technical and economic feasibility. Reference benchmarks, monitoring systems and a governance model consistent with the site’s characteristics and the needs of the stakeholders involved will also be considered.
Expected Results / Impact
The drafting of the Plan will lead to the following main results:
- Context analysis and definition of intervention priorities, through the assessment of the site’s main risk, vulnerability and opportunity factors, supporting the identification of the Plan’s strategic objectives.
- Development of a strategic framework for risk management, including an integrated action plan with priority interventions and an assessment of their technical and economic feasibility.
- Definition of tools for monitoring and evaluating the Plan’s effectiveness, through the identification of economic, social, cultural and environmental indicators capable of measuring the effects of the actions undertaken over time.
Partner
UNESCO Site Office of Porto Venere, Cinque Terre and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto)
