This background paper has been prepared for the 4th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, 19-23 May 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland by Rohit Jigyasu, UNESCO Chair Professor at the Research Center of Disaster Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, and President of ICOMOS-ICORP, with the support of Manas Murthy, Architect and Sustainable
Urbanist; Giovanni Boccardi (UNESCO World Heritage Centre); Christopher Marrion and Diane Douglas (ICOMOS-ICORP); Joseph King (ICCROM); Geoff O Brien (Northumbria University) and Glenn Dolcemascolo, Yongkyun Kim and Paola Albrito, Mariana Osihn, from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) Northeast Asia & Global Education and Training Institute at Incheon and the Regional Office for Europe. All have provided valuable advice in developing this paper.