COSTEP MA invites your registration to a special symposium this September 10th on disaster resilience and emergency preparedness for cultural heritage organizations. The event will be hosted by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) at their Headquarters in Framingham (400 Worcester Road (Route 9 East), Framingham, MA 01702).

The symposium program includes two exciting panel sessions led by cultural heritage and emergency management professionals, plus short remarks to open and close the day, with a break for lunch (provided) and networking. The event is limited to 50 with the small format intended to promote discussion, ideas, tips, and best practices among all attendees and panelists.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about resilience among cultural and emergency management colleagues at a unique venue in the MEMA Operations Room. The symposium coincides with National Preparedness Month and anticipates Climate Preparedness Week. Join the discussion and register today for this FREE event!

Program at-a-glance:

10:00 am – 10:30 am What's next for COSTEP MA?

Led by Co-Chairs Alejandra Dean (Massachusetts Archives) and Evan Knight (Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners)

10:30 am – 12:00 pm Climate Change and Resilience for Cultural Institutions

The physical impacts from climate change are rapidly causing museums, library/archive repositories, and historic properties to change how they care for their collections and facilities. Hear about some current projects and efforts in this area through a panel discussion led by Ben Haavik, Team Leader of Property Care for Historic New England; Rodney Rowland, Director of Facilities and Special Projects, Strawbery Banke Museum; and Amelia Holmes, Associate Director, Research Library for the Nantucket Historical Association.

Note: Amelia Holmes is no longer able to speak at the panel. Third panelist TBA.

12:00 pm – 12:45 pm Lunch and Networking

Lunch sponsored by Polygon Document Recovery Services

12:45 pm – 2:00 pm What to Expect in Community-Wide/Large Disasters

Panel with discussion led by Benjamin Hiltunen (MEMA), with Virginia Hewitt (Brooks Free Library, Harwich) and additional speaker TBA. Responses to localized collections emergencies like water leaks are vastly different from those for community-wide disasters. Consider if your institution ever dealt with a major disaster – and what you might do if forced to evacuate the area for days or weeks? Learn tips from peers and emergency management professionals about what your institution can do before, during, and after a large disaster to be better prepared.

2:00 pm – 2:30pm Closing remarks and discussion

Registration is free and limited to 50 attendees, so be sure to register early!