Free Lunchtime Webinars from Blue Shield UK

Our friends at the Blue Shield UK Conflict & Military Activity Working Group are hosting a series of free lunchtime webinars about conflict and the risks to UK heritage. ICOM UK members and all heritage professionals are welcome to join.

The webinars will focus on different aspects of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (widely referred to as the 1954 Hague Convention). In particular, they will examine how UK-based heritage professionals can prepare their institutions for the risk of conflict, a topic that is becoming increasingly relevant as European countries increase their defence spending and the UK takes a lead role in assembling a ‘Coalition of the Willing’ to support Ukraine.

The webinars will be hosted on Zoom, on the third Friday of every month, from 12.30 to 13.00 UK time. (Please note that individual times might change).

The line-up so far includes:

Friday 25 April 2025: Andy Davis, Current threats facing the Cultural Heritage Sectors

Friday 23 May 2025: Timothy Fagg, ​Civic-Military Cooperation in Relation to Defense Using Cultural Property Protection

Friday 20 June 2025: Brittni Bradford, Civic Safeguarding Preparations for the 1954 Hague Convention

Friday 18 July 2025: Speaker to be announced, ​Protecting Domestic Cultural Property in Conflict: Historical Perspectives from Britain and Italy in the Second World War

An initial talk on 21 March introduced the series and gave an overview of the 1954 Hague Convention. Additional dates and speakers will be announced shortly.