Implementing a Pre‐Disaster Recovery Workshop in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines: Lessons for Disaster Risk Assessment, Response, and Recovery for Cultural Heritage

The sustainable development goals have included Cultural Heritage into the development agenda. However, natural hazards threaten the existence of several historic districts, like Intramuros in Manila. Pre-disaster Recovery Planning has gained ground as a promising approach to improve disaster preparedness and recovery, though it has yet to be widely utilized for cultural heritage preservation.

The authors organized a pre-disaster recovery planning workshop, which helped observe the existing system of disaster management for cultural heritage in Intramuros. Heritage Values and Vulnerability Assessments, which were presented to heritage experts, disaster managers, and the local community at the workshop were conducted. As Disaster Risk Management for Culture Heritage is largely unexplored, the workshop generated much interest among stakeholders, since this was the first time that contact had been facilitated amongst them. It successfully demonstrated the benefits of Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning to provide inclusive and better recovery outcomes for historic districts.