The 2017 hurricane season caused immense devastation on several Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico, Dominica and Saint Maarten, and the archives, libraries and other cultural heritage institutions on these and other islands suffered unprecedented damage to both their physical structures and contents. Consequently, the Caribbean Archives Association (CARBICA), a branch of the International Council on Archives (ICA), recognized the need to train personnel working in these and related parts of the cultural heritage community in the aspects of planning for, responding to, and recovering after disasters. CARBICA, in collaboration with the Government of Sint Maarten, the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean, Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland and the Gerda Henkel Stiftung arranged "The Working Conference on Regional Approaches on Disaster Recovery and Heritage Preservation" in Sint Maarten to facilitate the training of international and regional policy makers and cultural heritage stewards in the above mentioned aims. Our participation in this conference was sponsored by UNESCO Netherlands and the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University. Archaeology entails multiple uses of archival sources, and with regard to the ERC Nexus 1492 project, it is important to understand the threats and mitigation of threats to the ‘life’ of these sources in the Caribbean climate.

Many of the attendees were archivists, records managers and librarians for the national archives and libraries of their respective countries. Presenters on the first day included leaders in various cultural heritage institutions in Sint Maarten, Saint Martin, Puerto Rico, Dominica and the British Virgin Islands, which were all adversely affected by the hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017. They brought to light the first-hand problems that they experienced due to insufficient preparedness, and the ways they dealt with and are still dealing with recovery even nearly a year after the hurricanes. Emphasized in this conference was the obvious necessity for improved disaster planning and training of staff in the region, especially in situations with little financial and human resources which are prolific in the wider conversation about heritage preservation.

Training for attendees about disaster management planning and disaster recovery was done primarily by Dr. Emilie Gagnet Leumas (Chair, ICA’s Expert Group on Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness) and Margaret Crockett (Training Officer, ICA). Their sessions entailed both best-practice theoretical and practical aspects which were aided by reference to the current draft version of the Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness Workbook, written by Leumas and Crockett. Though not yet complete, this workbook offers users a foundation for developing tailored plans to deal with emergencies and disasters for their respective institutions and collections. Samuel Franco Arce (Chair, ICOM LAC Regional Alliance) and Gerrit de Bruin (Senior Advisor of Conservation, National Archives of the Netherlands) led other practical training sessions that focused on the formation of emergency response networks, and some aspects of recovery of various materials after disasters such as fires and floods.

Another product of the working conference were five resolutions which state that CARBICA:

1. Seeks to promote and facilitate the continued collaboration between heritage protection stakeholders and partnerships emanating from the circumstances of the 2017 hurricane season;
2. Calls for the Expressions of Interest in establishing a Caribbean Heritage Emergency Network (hereafter the Network) - an initiative of CARBICA, as collaborative network of stakeholders and service providers committed to strengthening the Caribbean’s cultural heritage community, before, during and after disasters through an organized communication system, as well as coordinated activities and services in the field. The main goals are to respond in times of crises to the heritage preservation needs of Caribbean territories and encourage training and support for stakeholder institutions for the most critical periods of need;
3. Invites other relevant Caribbean professional networks to collaborate and contribute to mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery activities of the proposed Network;
4. Encourages governments and all relevant cultural and disaster risk management organizations and institutions at all levels, including CDEMA, to develop policies and mechanisms for culturally-aware and informed approaches to disaster risk programmes and activities, with explicit involvement of the cultural heritage sector for relief and recovery operations, and
5. Establishes a working group to continue the development of the Network.

The working group consists of professionals from amongst the participants of the working conference who are subdivided into six subgroups: archaeology (headed by Dr. Jay Haviser, guest lecturer, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University); archives; libraries; museums; built heritage, and intangible heritage. The working group is chaired by Maximilian Scriwanek, and currently has an advisory board consisting of Dr. Emilie Gagnet Leumas and Gerrit de Bruin.

While the Caribbean Heritage Emergency Network it is still in its initial stages of development, it is hoped that all parties involved in its creation and functioning will be fruitful in their tasks, and that the Nexus 1492 project and its participants can benefit from the improved care of the cultural heritage of the Caribbean which the Network seeks to ensure.

By Zara Ali and Ashleigh Morris