News
UNESCO and UNOSAT train Ukrainian cultural heritage professionals on using satellite imagery
Taking place at the in Lviv, the 4-day training gathered architects and urban planners from the cities of Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Volyn, Rivne, Zaporizhzhya and Zhytomyr, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, regional administrations’ and city council personnel involved in the protection of cultural heritage.
The training, supported financially by Japan and AECID (Spain), aimed to familiarize Ukrainian heritage professionals with the latest technologies and scientific methodologies, remote sensing tools, datasets, and data sources, as well as open-source operating systems that are accessible to all. The course strengthened the skills of professionals to identify cultural heritage properties through satellite imagery and assess damage reported through media or even by constantly monitoring specific sites.
With the progress in the development of technology, it is important to benefit from these advancements in the management of cultural heritage, in particular in situations of emergencies. This assessment methodology, developed by UNESCO since the beginning of the war, must be available to everyone, and must be able to be used in other emergency situations.
The training, delivered by experts from UNOSAT, with the support of cultural heritage experts and imagery analysts, as well as historians and Ukrainian archeologists, trained participants on how to properly document available data, to conduct damage assessments to cultural properties and to produce maps.
In addition, this training allowed to form a team of experts and focal points from the different regions of Ukraine, to conduct fast and efficient damage assessment, using the relevant technologies and programs, in the case of reported damage and to be able to respond immediately.
The war forces us to look for new tools that we have not used before and also teaches us to be innovative in finding solutions that help us to be more resilient and that allow us to monitor territories and sites which are temporarily occupied. The possibility of using satellite imagery is a good example of how the war situation forces us to broaden our horizons and use effective tools in a situation of continuous destruction of cultural sites
This training followed a first online workshop, attended by more than 160 Ukrainian cultural professionals, presented basic foundational concepts of GIT, and Global Navigation Satellite Systems, in addition to assessing damage to cultural properties through satellite imagery.
Beyond the rigorous assessment of damage, this training should help decision makers, the local communities and cultural heritage professionals to establish emergency preparedness plans for Ukrainian cities, prioritize urgent action and plan for the reconstruction.
What I liked the most in this training is that although I am not an IT expert, and it was the first time I work with a program such as QGIS, I managed to do the assignments and present the results of my work, maybe not perfectly, but good enough. I realized how I can make use of the information and programs available online.
To build the capacity of national and local institutions throughout Ukraine, UNESCO will continue to expand its training of cultural professionals, architects, archeologists, urban planners, topographists, professors, scholars and other professionals involved in the safeguarding of Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
This training was generously funded by the Government of Japan, through its Funds-In-Trust, within the framework of the project “Support for Ukraine in Culture and Education through UNESCO - Emergency response for World Heritage and cultural property: damage assessment and protection and with the generous support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
