Cultural Emergency Response

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Cultural Emergency Response

CER provides fast, flexible support to locally-led protection of heritage under threat. Cultural Emergency Response (CER) protects culture in crisis.

Acting as a ‘cultural ambulance’, CER provides quick financial support and expertise to stabilize and prevent further damage to cultural heritage under threat in crisis situations, in direct collaboration with local actors. We strive to make the field of heritage rescue more inclusive by strengthening local response capacities, leadership and networks. We support urgent emergency projects and provide training and mentorship opportunities. We decentralize cultural emergency response through a network of regional CER Hubs and advocate for cultural heritage a basic human need everywhere we go. Cultural heritage protection is part of humanitarian aid.

Donate to help protect people’s culture in crisis: https://www.culturalemergency.org/support-us
Is your culture in crisis? Apply for emergency support now: https://www.culturalemergency.org/programs/first-aid-to-cultural-heritage

09/10/2026

From emergency response to lasting protection of Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

On 2 October, more than 150 Ukrainian and international professionals gathered in Kyiv for the Cultural Resilience Forum, reflecting on progress and strengthening collaboration amid ongoing attacks.

The key takeaway: Ukraine needs a coordinated, sustainable system for cultural heritage protection, with stronger local capacity, faster emergency response, and long-term support.

The discussions will inform a practical Roadmap for Action.

Initiated by our partners ACURE and the Національний музей Революції Гідності • Музей Майдану, the Forum was part of the CER Regional Hub in the Black Sea.

A special thank you to the Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, particularly its Stabilisation & Humanitarian Aid Department, for making this initiative possible, and to our Ukrainian partners for their continued commitment to protecting culture in crisis.

05/10/2026

The CER Rapid Response Fund exists because organisations like Postcode Loterij and TEFAF believe that culture is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Their support means we can secure funding in advance, keeping our cultural ambulance ready before crisis strikes. That kind of trust is what allows our local partners to act within hours, not months, when it matters most.

“The loss of cultural heritage can mean the loss of part of a community’s identity and history. Protecting culture is central to TEFAF’s mission, which is why we have supported CER since 2008. In an emergency, speed matters: once heritage is lost, recovery is often impossible. We are therefore proud to be a founding partner of the CER Rapid Response Fund.” — Maarten ten Holder, Managing Director, TEFAF

Thank you for helping our cultural ambulance stay ready.

02/10/2026

Yesterday, we launched the CER Rapid Response Fund at the Vondelkerk in Amsterdam.

When heritage is lost, communities lose more than buildings or objects. They lose places that hold memory, identity, and belonging.

The Vondelkerk showed what rapid action can make possible. After the fire, the community mobilised quickly, and with Stadsherstel Amsterdam leading the response, much could still be secured and saved.

Around the world, local heritage professionals are trying to do the same in the face of conflict and disaster. CER supports them with the resources and expertise they need to act before irreplaceable heritage is lost.

That is why we created the CER Rapid Response Fund: to keep our cultural ambulance ready when every moment counts.

A special thank you to Stadsherstel Amsterdam for welcoming us and taking us through the restoration work.

🚑 Learn more about the CER Rapid Response Fund: https://www.culturalemergency.org/rapid-response-fund

Photos | Almicheal Fraay

01/10/2026

In a crisis, every minute matters.

Cultural heritage can be damaged, destroyed, looted, or lost before funding can be mobilised. Today, we are changing that.

Introducing the CER Rapid Response Fund: Funding in place before the crisis hits.

We call ourselves a cultural ambulance. This Fund is what keeps that ambulance ready, at all times, wherever it is needed.

Cultural heritage is not only about places, objects, or traditions. It is about identity, memory, and belonging. Protecting it, quickly, helps communities hold onto continuity when everything else is uncertain.

🚑 Keep our cultural ambulance ready. Learn more about the CER Rapid Respond Fund here: https://www.culturalemergency.org/rapid-response-fund

30/09/2026

What do we choose to save in wartime, and how do we build a system to protect it?

On 2 October, colleagues from Ukraine and beyond will come together in Kyiv and online for the Cultural Resilience Forum, “From Emergency Response to a System of Protection.”

Drawing on more than four years of on-the-ground experience in Ukraine, the forum will share practical cases, identify critical gaps, and explore next steps for strengthening the protection of cultural heritage during war.

- 2 October
- Kyiv & online
- Register here: https://bit.ly/3VaF9PM

The forum is complemented by the travelling exhibition “What We Chose to Protect: Stories from Cultural Heritage Rescue Missions in Ukraine”, reflecting on the work carried out across frontline regions of Ukraine between 2022 and 2026. Through photographs, videos, testimonies, 3D models, scans, and objects from the collection of the Національний музей Революції Гідності • Maidan Museum, it documents both the destruction of cultural heritage and the extraordinary lengths Ukrainians have gone to protect it.

The forum is supported by Cultural Emergency Response (CER), and organised by Agency for Cultural Resilience (ACURE), the CER Regional Hub in the Black Sea, Maidan Museum, Національний заповідник «Києво-Печерська лавра», and Ukrainian Fullbright Circle.

The exhibition was initiated by and has the support of the EUROPA NOSTRA Heritage Hub in Kyiv and the Ukrainian Fullbright Circle, in the frame of the EU-funded European Heritage Hub, and produced by the the Maidan Museum and the ACURE.

21/09/2026

Today is . By protecting cultural heritage today, we create space for dialogue and reconciliation, helping to heal divisions and lay the foundations for lasting peace.

“Maybe we won’t reach justice during our lifetime. But maybe our children will, if we do this work for them.” Vasyl Rozhko, Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab (HeMo) & CER Regional Hub in the Black Sea

Support CER to protect people’s culture in crisis. Donate now via link in bio.

Featured in order of appearance:
Max Scriwanek (Curaçao)
Khrystyna Kundyra (Ukraine)
Samuel Franco Arce (Guatemala)
Daria Diakova (Ukraine)
Adisa Dzino (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ihor Poshyvailo (Ukraine)
Vasyl Rozhko (Ukraine)

19/08/2026

Cultural heritage carries consequences. Losing it can feel like losing part of yourself.

On , we want to raise the importance of cultural heritage protection as an essential part of humanitarian work.

Help us protect people’s culture in crisis. Donate now.

06/08/2026

We are proud to launch the Arabic edition of Supporting Heritage at Risk: A Manual and Workshop Script for Heritage Proposal Writing.

Developed by Cultural Emergency Response (CER) and the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute / Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, and translated into Arabic by اتجاهات - ثقافة مستقلة, the manual provides practical guidance to help heritage professionals strengthen project proposals and improve access to funding. The Arabic edition was developed and piloted with cultural heritage organizations in Syria through Ettijahat’s Douroub programme, dedicated to promoting Syrian cultural heritage.

Developed with and for the Leadership Network, the manual was shaped through peer exchange, co-created with alumni, and tested through a train-the-trainer approach.

The images show the manual already being used and adapted in workshops in Syria, led by Ettijahat – Independent Culture.

This edition was made possible with the support of the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund.

Download the manual via link in bio.

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يسرّنا إطلاق النسخة العربية من دليل “دعم التراث المهدد بالخطر: نص دليل وورشة لكتابة المقترحات المتعلقة بالتراث”.

طوّرت منظمة الاستجابة الطارئة الثقافية (CER) بالتعاون مع معهد سميثسونيان لحفظ المتاحف / مبادرة سميثسونيان لإنقاذ التراث الثقافي هذا الدليل، وتولت اتجاهات - ثقافة مستقلة ترجمته إلى العربية. ويوفر الدليل إرشادات عملية تساعد العاملات والعاملين في مجال التراث على إعداد مقترحات مشاريع أكثر قوة وتعزيز فرصهم في الوصول إلى التمويل. وقد تمّ تطوير النسخة العربية من الدليل واختباره مع منظمات تعمل في مجال التراث الثقافي في سوريا من خلال منظمة اتجاهات - ثقافة مستقلة عبر برنامجها دروب المخصص تعزيز الموارد الثقافية التراثية السورية.

تمّ إعداد الدليل بالتعاون مع أعضاء شبكة القيادة (Leadership Network) ومن أجلهم، واستند إلى تبادل الخبرات بين الأقران، كما شارك خريجو وخريجات الشبكة في تطويره، وتم اختباره من خلال نهج تدريب المدرّبين.

وتُظهر الصور استخدام الدليل ضمن ورشات تدريبية نُفذت في سوريا بإشراف منظمة اتجاهات – ثقافة مستقلة.

29/07/2026

The Great Omari Mosque in Gaza holds one of Palestine’s most important manuscript collections.

Housed in the Dar al-Saada Dome, the manuscripts span Islamic sciences, literature, jurisprudence, and local history, forming an irreplaceable record of Palestinian intellectual life and collective memory.

Severe bombardment had left the collection buried under rubble and at risk of unrecoverable damage from weather and pollutants.

CER supported CISS Palestine across two phases of a locally-led emergency response. Palestinian conservators from Eyes on Heritage led daily implementation, with peer expertise and remote guidance.

The result: 147 full manuscripts and 43 folios were salvaged; a critical first step in protecting Palestine’s cultural identity.

This response was made possible with support from the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund.

📖 Learn more in our Impact Report 2025. Link in bio.

21/07/2026

Tras los devastadores terremotos que afectaron a Venezuela, desde Cultural Emergency Response (CER) expresamos nuestra solidaridad con todas las personas y comunidades afectadas.

En CER creemos que salvaguardar la cultura es también una forma de sanar. Por ello, estamos buscando conectar con organizaciones locales, profesionales del patrimonio cultural y otras iniciativas que estén trabajando para salvaguardar el patrimonio cultural en Venezuela.

¿Conoces a alguien con quien deberíamos hablar? Comparte este mensaje o ponte en contacto con nosotros.

Escríbenos a [email protected] o visita www.culturalemergency.org para solicitar apoyo de emergencia.

Full statement link in bio.

Imágenes: , Iglesia Santa Clara de Asís, Choroni, Venezuela

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Nieuwe Herengracht 14
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+31203449160

Website

http://www.culturalemergency.org/

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