From 17 to 20 February, a joint UNESCO/ICOMOS Technical Assistance Mission took place in Odesa, Ukraine, as part of the process of providing guidance and recommendations for the revision of the Draft Management Plan of the World Heritage property ‘The Historic Centre of Odesa’, which will include an Emergency Preparedness Plan.
The mission was carried out as part of the UNESCO/ICOMOS technical assistance provided under the UNESCO’s multi-sectoral programme, funded by the Government of Japan, which aims to better protect Ukraine’s cultural heritage from the increased threats posed by the ongoing war and to use it as a source of resilience and recovery for communities, thus preserving it for present and future generations.
Following two preparatory online working sessions for Ukrainian heritage stakeholders held between December 2024 and January 2025, the main objective of this four-day UNESCO/ICOMOS mission was to get acquainted with the management structure of the World Heritage Property “The Historic City Centre of Odesa”, while a special emphasis was placed on the management aspects related to the risks and issues affecting the site, with a view to improving the strategies and means for its protection, by including an Emergency Preparedness Plan with emergency response protocols.
During the mission, ICOMOS was represented by the following members: Katarzyna Piotrowska (Poland), Zeynep Gül Ünal (Türkiye), Pierre Smars (Belgium) and Gráinne Shaffrey (Ireland). As international experts, they took part in the mission to provide technical guidance and recommendations to the national and local stakeholders involved in the conservation and management of the World Heritage Site on the draft Management Plan in order to improve its effectiveness.
The ICOMOS experts, together with representatives of the World Heritage Centre and the UNESCO Antenna in Ukraine, participated in fruitful meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, the Odesa Regional State Administration and the Odesa City Council, the State Emergency Services, and other key stakeholders (such as the Odesa Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture or the Odesa Port Authority) as well as with members of ICOMOS Ukraine.
Photo credits: UNESCO/Taras Osipov
