An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March / April 2024 www.military.ie/magazine 32 | T his past December, the Irish National Committee for the Blue Shield (INCBS) held the second annual United Nations Training School in Ireland (UNTSI) Cultural Property Protection course in conjunction with Blue Shield International and the Irish Defence Forces. The course was held at the Curragh Camp in Co. Kildare and focused on Cultural Property Protection (CPP) of both tangible and intangible heritage in a UN Peacekeeping context. The programme featured lectures, group activities, and on-site tours over the course of five days from December 4-8, 2023. A total of 30 people--23 military personnel and 7 civilian heritage professionals--attended the course from Ireland, the UK, and the continental EU. Military delegates were required to have deployment experience and came primarily from the Irish Defence Forces. Small groups attended from the Netherlands, Germany, and the UK. The first half of the course was comprised of lectures given by representatives from CPP organizations within or adjacent to multiple different national militaries including France, the UK, Lebanon, the Netherlands, and the USA. These informed attendees about CPP as a concept and how CPP efforts could be integrated into military and UN Peacekeeping missions. The lectures also emphasized how CPP could be critical to the success of Peacekeeping missions and relationship-building with local populations. Group activities during this part of the course focused on historical scenarios where CPP or lack thereof played a massive role (eg. the bombing of the library of Sarajevo), and groups were tasked to re-examine these scenarios and think about how CPP could have been better implemented. The second half of the course centred on a fictional role-playing scenario where attendees were given a brief on the political situation and CPP needs of "Wilfdon", capital of "Wilfland". Attendees were given a UN mandate, a history of the country and the contributing factors to its instability, briefs on different CPP issues, and information on the equipment and capabilities of their fictional UN Peacekeeping troops. Within this scenario, attendees went on site visits to the Curragh Camp military museum and then on a full-day trip to Dublin where Merrion Square, the Military Archives, and St. Patrick's Cathedral stood in for major Wilflandic heritage sites. Keepers of each site role-played along with the briefs so attendees could ask questions while assessing the CPP risks. Following the site visits, attendees separated into groups and prepared a brief that was then presented to the Force Commander on the final day. Responses to the course were enthusiastic. The variety of speakers, visits, and activities kept the course interesting and well-paced. Many of the attendees complemented the subject matter and the teaching, with one saying "The course opened up my eyes to the important work of the Blue Shield. It's an organisation that nations should all use." Staying on base at the Curragh Camp fostered camaraderie between participants of all nationalities and encouraged further discussion outside of the course. For future iterations of the course, the goal will be to invite Peacekeepers from outside the EU and the UK to encourage a more diverse pool of attendees. Overall the second annual UNTSI CPP Training course was a success, and efforts will be made to include it in the yearly programme for both the INCBS and the UNTSI. This will further the awareness of the Blue Shield's CPP principles in UN Peacekeeping forces and help strengthen the relationship between the two organizations. PEACEKEEPING FOR HERITAGE PEACEKEEPING FOR HERITAGE BY GRETCHEN ALLEN, SENIOR CONSERVATOR NAI, MEMBER INCBS PHOTOS PROVIDED BY COMDT DANIEL AYIOTIS TRAINING UN PEACEKEEPERS TRAINING UN PEACEKEEPERS IN CULTURAL PROPERTY PROTECTION IN CULTURAL PROPERTY PROTECTION Lectures from course leader Professor Peter Stone, UNESCO Chairholder in Cultural Property Protection and Peace at Newcastle University and President, Blue Shield International Cdr Roger Curtis RNR giving a lecture online to the cse A chance for an informal debrief at the end-of-course dinner at the Royal Curragh Golf Club Captain Ainke Petersen, Cultural Property Protection Staff Officer from the Dutch Armed Forces, briefing the course during the exercise phase

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