Deadline: 31 March 2020
For the second time, the Prince Claus Fund and the Gerda Henkel Foundation announce an Open Call for Proposals specifically aimed at Emergency Preparedness for Cultural Heritage under Threat.
The Fund invites cultural practitioners, institutions and local NGOs to present their ideas for Emergency Preparedness measures to protect tangible cultural heritage against acute danger and irreversible loss in case of disaster. They welcome applications from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
When natural or human-induced disaster strikes, the damage to museums, archives, archaeological sites, libraries, and historical buildings is often enormous. When local resources and capacities for rescue are lacking, tangible heritage may even be lost forever. While disasters cannot always be predicted, damage to cultural heritage can be mitigated through emergency preparedness.
This second round of joint Call for Applications aims to support the development and implementation of more preparatory measures for heritage buildings, collections, and sites to protect these in case a disaster occurs. The Fund encourages organisations to enhance their emergency preparedness by implementing lessons learned during previous incidents. Special attention will be given to cross sectoral collaborations strengthening networks, and the establishment of local structures for disaster preparedness and emergency response. The call also aims to step up both their Foundations’ efforts in the field, raise awareness about its importance and illustrate how preventive concepts can safeguard heritage. Cultural practitioners, institutions and local NGOs are encouraged to submit their ideas and plans for the protection of tangible cultural heritage under threat.
Funding Information
- Grants will average about € 20,000.
- Grant funds can only cover project-related expenses, not running (operating) costs for organisations.
- No support will be provided retroactively (i.e. to projects already implemented).
Eligibility Criteria
- The project must aim to prepare for the protection of tangible cultural heritage in emergency situations caused by an acute, current or impending disaster.
- The country in which the intervention is to take place must be in Africa, Asia, Latin America, or the Caribbean, and the applying organisation or individual must live and work in one of these regions.
- The heritage involved must be significant for a specific community, whether local, regional, national, or global.
- Local communities and/or local authorities must be involved in the emergency preparedness, and the legal owner must support the proposed measures.
- The intervention must be able to be carried out within a time frame of twelve months.
- Previous grantees of the Prince Claus Fund and of the Gerda Henkel Foundation can only apply for a new grant when the previously funded project is completely finished and closed before the deadline for submitting the current application.
- The project could fulfil one or several of the following aims:
- Damage and risk assessment: setting salvage priorities, digitization and inventorying
- Disaster preparedness and the provision of supplies: storage, packing and evacuation
- Improvement of security measures for museums, buildings, archives and sites
- Management of crisis situations: risk evaluation, disaster management and evacuation plans
- Training of professionals for cultural emergency situations
- Strengthening of local networks working on heritage protection or advocating for its importance in other disaster preparedness structures (for example with civil protection services, humanitarian actors, etc.)
- Adoption of best practice methods for cultural emergency response or the exchange of these methods and knowledge
- Emergency documentation or excavation of cultural heritage sites under direct threat
The following shall NOT be funded (among others):
- Cases in which damages are caused by long term neglect.
- Applications which focus on measures to stabilize heritage after a disaster that already occurred.
- Projects that concentrate on intangible cultural heritage.
- Projects that concentrate on natural heritage.
Selection Criteria
Projects will be evaluated by Prince Claus Fund and Gerda Henkel Foundation staff, external reviewers and a scientific Advisory Committee. The selection criteria are:
- Urgency of the need identified – affected heritage must be threatened by imminent loss in case of disaster.
- Soundness and sustainability of the plan for emergency preparedness and/or dissemination – the plan must be feasible, realistic and well thought out to prevent or limit future vulnerability.
- Significance of the threatened heritage to local, regional, and/or world communities – the heritage must be of value to an identified group of people.
How to Apply
To apply, please fill out the form for a statement of need and send it to the email address given on the website in English, French, or Spanish. Applications that do not respect the formal preconditions of the form cannot be considered.
For more information, visit https://princeclausfund.org/emergency-preparedness-for-cultural-heritage-under-threat-2020#