ICOM Europe is pleased to announce the launch of its new two-year international project, From Crisis to Capacity: An ICOM International Guideline for Museums and Museum Professionals before, during and after Armed Conflict.

Led by ICOM Europe in partnership with ICOM Ukraine and an international consortium of ICOM National Committees, Regional Alliances, International Committees and expert organisations, the project will develop an open-access professional guideline that supports museums in preparing for, responding to and recovering from armed conflict and other extreme crisis situations.

The initiative builds on the lived experience of museum professionals who have continued to protect collections, safeguard cultural heritage and maintain institutional continuity under exceptionally challenging circumstances. Drawing on case studies from Ukraine and other conflict-affected regions, the project will review and synthesise existing international guidance while identifying gaps where practical operational knowledge is most needed.

Rather than creating another theoretical framework, the project will transform real-life experience into practical, evidence-based recommendations that museums of different sizes and capacities can adapt to their own contexts. Covering the full cycle of preparedness, emergency response and recovery, the guideline will address issues such as risk assessment, collections protection, staff safety, institutional resilience, coordination mechanisms and post-conflict recovery.

The project brings together expertise from across the ICOM network, combining operational experience from museums in conflict-affected regions with professional knowledge from International Committees, Regional Alliances and specialised organisations. Through collaborative drafting, comparative analysis, cross-regional peer review and multilingual adaptation, the consortium aims to produce an internationally relevant reference that strengthens museum resilience worldwide.

Implementation of the project began in May-June 2026 with the establishment of the Core Crisis Working Group, bringing together partners from conflict-affected regions to define the methodological framework, identify key operational challenges and initiate the collection of case studies that will form the foundation of the guideline.

This initiative reflects ICOM Europe’s commitment to professional solidarity, international cooperation and knowledge sharing. By recognising museums operating in crisis contexts as contributors of professional expertise, the project seeks to transform experience gained under extraordinary circumstances into a lasting resource for the global museum community.

The project is supported under the ICOM 2026 Projects – Solidarity in Times of Crisis programme and will run until December 2027.

ICOM Europe will regularly share updates on the project’s progress, milestones and activities through its website and social media channels. We invite museum professionals, partners and the wider heritage community to follow the project’s development over the coming two years.