Building cities resilience to disasters: protecting cultural heritage and adapting to climate change

This document reports on a conference intended attended by European Mayors, representatives of local and national governments working on disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Europe, as well as regional organizations, such as Council of Europe, European Commission, the private sector and three United Nations bodies, to: (i) consider the key role played by DRR measures and the protection of cultural heritage; (ii) explore climate change adaption policies and plans at local level; (iii) facilitate the sharing of good practices by cities through direct exchanges; (iv) build partnerships at local level, through the involvement of new actors.

It presents the outcomes of the sessions of the meeting, including: 1) the opening and Making Cities Resilient campaign signing ceremony with the cities of Dubrovnik and Zagreb, Croatia, and the recognition of Nice, France, as a role model city; 2) the first session on the linkages between DRR and cultural heritage protection; 3) the second session on cities resilience to disasters in a changing climate; 4) the third session on the value of sharing experiences between cities; 5) the fourth session on partnership building; and 6) the adoption of the Venice declaration (in annex) and concluding remarks.