Laying the Groundwork for Moveable Heritage Disaster Risk Management: A Database-Driven Evacuation Tool at the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale

Abstract

This paper presents a case study conducted at the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale (National Archaeology Museum) in France, to develop a dedicated database application to safeguard its moveable heritage from risks, as a foundational component of the museum’s wider Disaster Risk Management (DRM) strategy. It responds to calls from both national and international cultural organisations to implement DRM strategies within cultural heritage institutions, emphasising the importance of preparedness in an era marked by increasing frequency and intensity of natural and anthropogenic disasters worldwide. This study draws on guidelines published by international cultural organisations to implement the first phase of the DRM cycle, to assess, mitigate, and prepare for potential risks. Having identified fire as the primary risk capable of causing irreversible damage to the museum’s archaeological collections, this study determines an evacuation-based approach to be the optimal solution to safeguard artefacts, through which the study then proposes and develops a database application to ensure effective and efficient emergency evacuations when needed. The resulting database has been adopted as the foundation of the museum’s DRM strategy and provides a valuable reference for cultural institutions housing moveable heritage. In summary, this study lays a crucial foundation for a comprehensive safeguarding strategy, offering a blueprint for mitigating and countering risks to protect invaluable heritage for the future.