Company Profile

Newcastle University hosts the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Property Protection (CPP) & Peace, held by Professor Peter Stone OBE. The University also funds Dr Paul Fox (0.5, Principle Research Associate) and Dr Emma Cunliffe (FT Research Associate) appointed to support the Chair. A primary objective of the team is to establish an efficient Blue Shield – the international NGO created to advise UNESCO on CPP in the event of armed conflict. Fox and Cunliffe act currently as the international secretariat for the organisation. The Blue Shield currently has 22 national committees and six under development, all of which work within the context set by the UN and UNESCO.

Through a variety of activities, including publications, advice, production of training materials, actual training, and conferences the Newcastle team work with politicians, civil servants, the military, and heritage community to better prepare for CPP. This is done at both a national (e.g. a 2013 article by Stone prompted the British Army to set-up a new CPP Unit that will become fully operational in 2020/21) and supra-national level (e.g. with NATO). Team members have recently been involved in adding CPP issues in planning and delivering NATO and US Air Force exercises.