June 2012

The Prince Claus Fund welcomes project proposals that focus on providing first aid to heritage or cultural goods that have been damaged by natural disaster or conflict in the year 2012. Also eligible for funding under this call are measures to protect cultural heritage that is under imminent threat of destruction.

Through its Cultural Emergency Response (CER) programme, the Prince Claus Fund provides first aid to stabilise a situation until a longer term solution can be found. CER supports quick actions to rescue cultural heritage, aims to prevent further damage and carries out basic repairs. CER implements its cultural emergency relief actions in direct cooperation with local partners in the affected communities.

The deadline for the submission of projects is the 1st of October 2012.

Proposals received after this date shall be processed in 2013. Given the emergency character of the work we would like to ask you to send in proposals as soon as possible. The form that needs to be filled out to submit a proposal can be found here: http://www.princeclausfund.org/en/programmes/about-cultural-emergency-response

May 2012

For its MayDay 2012 campaign, Blue Shield Australia is organising a series of free regional workshops around Australia, to promote local co-operative agreements around disaster preparedness, planning, response and recovery.

Please read our media release MediaRelease.BSA.Disaster.Recovery.Workshops.2012

The aim of these workshops is to build networks, including emergency response personnel, where they do not exist presently and to examine existing network models so that they may be adapted for adoption in other regions.

More information about the workshops is available here Flyer.BSA.Disaster.Recovery.Workshops.2012

April 2012

Australian & New Zealand Disaster and Emergency Management Conference
The Australian & New Zealand Disaster and Emergency Management Conference will provide a forum to examine the issues surrounding natural and man-made hazards. The conference will be held in Brisbane, 16 – 18 April 2012.

More information is available at http://anzdmc.com.au/

June 2012

The need for a New Zealand branch of Blue Shield has been highlighted by the Christchurch earthquakes. A group of 14 organisations across the culture and heritage sector as well as the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand (ARANZ) and the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management met for an initial meeting in November 2011 and discussed the benefits of setting up Blue Shield in New Zealand.

June 2011

The articles on pages 3 and 4 of Museum and Gallery Services Queensland’s (M&GSQ) quarterly publication M&GSQ_Source_Volume7_Number2_Winter2011 feature recognition of Christine Ianna and Lydia Egunnike’s work during Queensland’s natural disasters at the the recent Queensland Disaster Heroes ceremonies held across the State as a part of Queensland Week.

Keep up to date with their work at http://www.magsq.com.au/

8 June 2011

Blue Shield Australia has been awarded a grant by the Office of the Arts, though the Distributed National Collections program.

Blue Shield Australia has been active in promoting cultural heritage risk preparedness in Australia since its inception in 2005.

In awarding the funding the Hon Simon Crean MP, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government in Australia’s Federal Government, stated that given the recent spate of natural disasters in Australia the project is both timely and important. The project BSA: Building cultural heritage resilience in regional Australia. Please see the media release for more information.

15 March 2011

The BSA committee is following the tragic events in Japan with great concern. We express our deepest sympathy for those people who have lost family members and for everyone who has been touched by this monumental disaster. In due course BSA will welcome contributions to our Facebook page from those who can provide helpful information for understanding the effects of the earthquake on particular examples of cultural heritage.

22 February 2011

BSA committee is shocked to hear about the earthquake damage in Christchurch, New Zealand. Our thoughts and support go to our colleagues in the affected earthquake area.

We are gathering news and information from the New Zealand library, museum, archive, gallery and build heritage profession and posting it on the BSA Facebook site as it becomes available.

January 2011

Our thoughts are with our colleagues in the devastating flood affected areas across Australia. In response to the flood disaster the BSA Committee convened two special meetings in Melbourne on 17th & 27th January 2011. The meetings gathered available information at the time as to how the floods have affected the cultural heritage sector. It also canvassed possible recovery efforts, which could be implemented immediately as well as what activities should be undertaken in the short, medium and long-term.

To assist with these activities BSA agreed to establish a central register of cultural heritage affected by the floods. The register will collate a list of all affected archives, historical societies, libraries, museums and galleries and monuments and sites and be posted on the BSA website. This register will be used to prioritise and better understand how, where and when best to respond and assist cultural heritage custodians affected by the floods.

The BSA committee has also agreed to meet more regularly with not just BSA pillars and associate members but any other cultural heritage organisations wanting to assist. In the coming weeks and months updates on BSA actions to the flood disaster will be posted on the BSA website and facebook page as well as BSA member organisations websites and discussion lists.

To contribute to the BSA flood disaster register please email the Blue Shield Secretariat at: blueshieldaustralia@gmail.com

BSA is compiling a register of all known flood affected cultural heritage collections and sites or monuments regardless of their size or if they are in private or public ownership.

The information in this register will be used by BSA and its partners to develop an effective response and recovery assistance from the Australian cultural heritage sector over the short, medium and long-term.

If you know of any cultural heritage affected by the floods please contribute to this central register by emailing BSA at: info@blueshieldaustralia.org.au

List of all States / Territories

• Australian Capital Territory
• New South Wales
• Northern Territory
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Victoria
• Western Australia