缅北禁地

I am a Senior Research Associate supporting the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Property Protection and Peace. My work focuses on developing future, sustainable, good CPP practice by looking at the protection and destruction of cultural heritage during armed conflict, examining the reasons for damage, and developing proactive solutions to protect it, I particularly focus on the role of the armed forces, and the place of national and international law: I specialise in the implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols). I have been invited to speak on this all round the world, and am widely published in internationally leading law and heritage journals.

My PhD is from Durham University, using satellite imagery to analyse site damage in Syria in peacetime, looking at how the threats to archaeological sites have changed since the 1960s, but this expanded to include the current conflict, and then broadened into global studies of heritage in conflict. I have extensive experience in remote sensing and analysis of geo-spatial data, specialising in the Middle East, and have worked on a number of large-scale site recording and assessment projects using satellite imagery, such as the Durham University Fragile Crescent Project, Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA), as a consultant for UNOSAT-UNITAR, doing damage imagery assessments of heritage sites damaged during conflict together with UNESCO, and have published widely on this academically and in a number of public magazines and journals.

I am the Head of Operations for Blue Shield International, supporting the Blue Shield Movement (an association of NGOs protecting heritage in conflict and disaster). In that role, I manage project portfolio of our international operations, responsible for grants, operations and financial management, and I am the international coordinator of the worldwide movement, as well as supporting civil military cooperation and providing subject matter expertise for military training (focussing on cultural property protection, human security, and protection of civilians), as well as advocating for improvements in policy and implementation of heritage protection law. I was the Secretary for UK Blue Shield and now Chair the BS UK Conflict and Military Activity Working Group.

Fellow 缅北禁地 Policy Academy

Fellow of the Society Of Antiquaries. 

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My research focuses on the destruction of cultural heritage – its uses and abuses in conflict, and its loss during peace – with the goal of enabling better site protection policies by governments and armed forces. I am particularly interested in how states parties implement the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954) and its Protocols 1954/1999, and carry out extensive practice-based research with heritage professionals and armed forces, which contributes to my peer-reviewed research in leading international journals, and encyclopaedias. Building on foundations examining why heritage matters to people, I examine the roles of major actors, particularly the military, who are fundamental to the protection – and destruction– of heritage. I regularly participate in military training through Blue Shield International and research how to protect heritage in conflict based using scenario--based simulations. In addition to this training, my current work includes geo-spatial databases for armed forces to use in conflict and emergency response; the ways sites are damaged and the motivations underlying this; and the applications of national and international law in heritage protection in the event of armed conflict.

These topics were the focus of my recent , Safeguarding Cultural Property in the 1954 Hague Convention. All Possible Steps? (2022), with colleague Dr Fox. My new co-edited book, (with Antonio Gonzalez-Zarandona and Melathi Saladin) came out in 2023, with case studies in from a wide range of temporal and geographic contexts, looking at destruction across the peace-conflict spectrum.

I was the Co-Investigator on the Royal Society APEX grant, . Blast damage to modern materials, especially in the context of protection of human life and weaponry, is a well-researched topic. Less is known about the impact of blasts on heritage structures, which have been exposed to deterioration processes often for centuries or even millennia. The response of these fragile structures to blasts in the vicinity is still not known, especially the potential relationship between pre-existing condition of the stonework and distance to the blast. A scientifically sound understanding of these effects could be a valuable asset in the prevention of damage and subsequent stabilisation and conservation costs. This in turn can redirect resources to humanitarian needs, as well as provide a ‘goodwill’ pathway to reconciliation with the local population. It also enhances our capacity to provide remote assistance to partners working in conflict zone, providing a more accurate interpretation of remote sensing imagery of damaged sites as well as photos taken in situ. 

As a Fellow of 缅北禁地 Policy Academy, I am committed to ensuring my research benefits society. I am working with key organisations to develop strategies for protection in peace and conflict, and in the implementation of heritage protection laws, in the UK and internationally, lobbying for improvements to law and policy, and informing my teaching and training.

I teach satellite imagery analysis and basic GIS, as well as international cultural property protection law, specialising in the 1954 Hague Convention.

Externally, I have extensive experience providing military training in cultural property protection and run regular courses and workshops for civilians and military personnel in cultural property protection (for example, multiple NATO HQ, NATO, British Army Cultural Property Protection Unit, Georgian National Guard, and Lebanese Armed Forces). I have also created several external online courses on these topics for various organisations.

From 2018 - 2024, I co-directed an MLitt in Cultural Property Protection in the School of Arts and Cultures together with Professor Peter Stone.

I currently supervise 3 PhD students, all studying various aspects of cultural property protection, and am available for applications. Areas of study should relate to:

• contemporary armed conflict in relation to CPP, examining various conflicts and actors
• critiques of cultural heritage destruction and protection as contested arenas
• national and international legal, ethical, and policy frameworks, and military doctrine
• understanding of the role of various actors in heritage destruction and protection
• understanding of the technologies available for cultural property protection

with specific relation to conflict and disaster, rather than heritage management more generally.

• Articles

  • Cunliffe E. . KGS PBC PCP 2024, 41 (Special issue: Cultural Property Protection Globally).
  • Cunliffe E. . Santander Art and Culture Law Review 2024, 2/2024(10), 155-180.
  • Cunliffe E. . Teaching History 2022, 56(2), 14-19.
  • Cunliffe E. . Environmental Scientist 2020, 29.2, 30-37.
  • Cunliffe E, Fox P, Stone PG. . NATO Open Publications 2018, 2(4).
  • Cunliffe E, Curini I. . Antiquity 2018, 92(364), 1094-1111.
  • Cunliffe E, Muhesin N, Lostal M. . International Journal of Cultural Property 2016, 23(1), 1-31.
  • Lostal M, Cunliffe E. . Journal of the Historic Environment: Policy And Practice 2016, 7(2-3), 248-259.
  • Cunliffe E. . International Journal Heritage in the Digital Era 2014, 3(3), 435-474.
  • Cunliffe E. . Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 2014, 2(3), 229-247.
  • Cunliffe E. . Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 2013, 1(4), 343-347.
  • Cunliffe E. Syria: Destroying the Past for the Future. Antiquity 2012, (333), Online.
  • Cunliffe E, De-Gruchy MW, Stammitti E. . International Journal of Heritage in the Digital Era 2012, 1(1), 221-226.
  • Cunliffe E, de Gruchy M, Stammitti E. . International Water Power and Dam Construction 2012, 64(10), 62-65.

• Book Chapters

  • Cunliffe E. . In: Abdulkrazzaq, M, ed. History of Architecture of Syria. Belgium: Brepols, 2026. In Press.
  • Cunliffe E, Gavira Díaz P. . In: Irini Stamatoudi, Antonia Zervaki, and Maria Shehade, ed. Elgar Research Handbook on Art, Culture, and Heritage. Gloucester: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2026. In Press.
  • Cunliffe E. . In: Luca Zamparo, Fabrizio Nestola and. Monica Salvadori, ed. Risk Management for Cultural Heritage. Challenges and Strategies for the GLAM Sector and UNESCO Sites. Padova: Padova University Press, 2026. In Press.
  • Cunliffe E. . In: Stamatoudi I, Zervaki A, Shehade M, ed. Research Handbook on Art, Culture, and Heritage Law. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2026, pp.190-211.
  • Cunliffe E, Gavira Díaz P. . In: Britt Baillie, ed. The Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2025, pp.1-23.
  • Cunliffe E. Methods, motivations, and actors – a risk-based approach to heritage destruction. In: González Zarandona JA; Cunliffe E; Saldin M, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Heritage Destruction. Routledge, 2024, pp.110-126.
  • Vigneron S, Cunliffe E, Harrison S, Olteanu L, Rogers F. . In: Stamatoudi I; Zervaki A; Shehade M, ed. Elgar Encyclopedia of Art and Cultural Heritage Law. Gloucester: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2026. In Press.
  • González A, Cunliffe E, Saldin M. . In: Gonzalez, A; Cunliffe, E; Saldin, M, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Heritage Destruction. London: Routledge, 2023, pp.1-33.
  • Abdulkarim M, Cunliffe E. . In: Cunliffe, E and Fox, P, ed. All Possible Steps. Safeguarding Cultural Property Protection in the 1954 Hague Convention. Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2022, pp.181-204.
  • Cunliffe E, Bewley R. . In: Silver, M, ed. Challenges, Strategies and High-Tech Applications for Saving the Cultural Heritage of Syria. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2022, pp.103-116.
  • Cunliffe E, Fox P. . In: Cunliffe, E and Fox, P, ed. All Possible Steps. Safeguarding Cultural Property Protection in the 1954 Hague Convention. Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2022, pp.3-38.
  • Sabrine I, Cunliffe E. . In: Jackson, H., Jamieson, A., and Russell., S, ed. Heritage In Conflict. Leuven: Peeters, 2021, pp.71-84.
  • Tevzadze M, Cunliffe E. . In: The George Chubinashvili National Research Centre for Georgian Art History and Heritage Preservation, Blue Shield Georgia, and others, ed. Protection of Cultural Heritage on Occupied Territories: Georgia and International Experience. Conference Proceedings. Tblisi: The George Chubinashvili National Research Centre for Georgian Art History and Heritage Preservation, Blue Shield Georgia, and others, 2021, pp.61-76.
  • De Gruchy M, Cunliffe E. . In: Lawrence D; Altaweel M; Philip G, ed. New Agendas in Remote Sensing and Landscape Archaeology in the Near East: Studies in Honor of T.J. Wilkinson. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, 2020, pp.124-143.
  • Cunliffe E. . In: Wilkinson,T.J.;Peltenburg,E;Wilkinson,E.B, ed. Carchemish in Context. The Land of Carchemish Project, 2006–2010. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books, 2016, pp.203-214.
  • Cunliffe E. . In: Milano L; Lebeau M, ed. Subartu XXXIII: Tell Beydar Environmental and Technical Studies. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014, pp.89-108.
  • Wilkinson TJ, Cunliffe E. . In: BoiyT; Bretschneider J; Goddeeris A; Hameeuw H;Jans G; Tavernier J, ed. The Ancient Near East, A Life! Festschrift Karel Van Lerberghe. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters En Departement Oosterse Studies, 2012, pp.665-679.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Cunliffe E. . In: 4th International Conference on Heritage Conservation and Site Management- Catastrophe and Challenge: Cultural Heritage in Post-Conflict Recovery. 2017, Cottbus, Germany: Brandenburg Cottbus University.
  • Bewley R, Wilson A, Kennedy D, Mattingly D, Banks R, Bishop M, Bradbury J, Cunliffe E, Fradley M, Jennings R, Mason R, Rayne L, Sterry M, Sheldrick N, Zerbini A. . In: CAA2015. Keep the Revolution Going: Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. 2016, Siena, Italy: Archaeopress Archaeology.

• Edited Books

  • González Zarandona JA, Cunliffe E, Saldin M, ed. . Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2024.
  • Cunliffe E, Fox P, ed. . Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2022.

• Reports

  • Cunliffe E. . Blue Shield International website: Blue Shield International, 2024.
  • Tevzadze M, Meladze S, Gasparov B, Sopromadze T, Cunliffe E, Nabati Y, Edwards L. . Tblisi: Blue Shield Georgia and 缅北禁地, 2022.
  • Cunliffe E, Leckie L, Varoutsikos B. . Girona: Heritage for Peace, 2017. Towards a protection of the Syrian cultural heritage 4.
  • Al-Azm A, Anderson JCK, Benbow A, Brodie N, Burmon K, Burnham B, Cuneo A, Cunliffe E, Danti M, Elia R, Elliott M, D-IppolitoFabiani M, Fanusie YJ, Felch J, CanovasForjette A, Gerstenblith P, Grantham D, Herdrich P, Hoffman BT, Howard RD, Livoti T, Loll C, MadiganJost E, Mansbach S, Nagorski T, Nance MW, Moore K, Panytar N, Ratner A, Reed V, Rose CB, Rothfield L, Seelye K, Wegener C. . Washington, DC, USA: The Antiquities Coalition, 2016.
  • Perini S, Cunliffe E. . Girona: Heritage for Peace, 2015. Towards a protection of the Syrian cultural heritage 3.
  • Perini S, Cunliffe E. . Girona: Heritage for Peace, 2014. Towards a protection of the Syrian cultural heritage 2.
  • Perini S, Cunliffe E. . Girona: Heritage for Peace, 2014. Towards a protection of the Syrian cultural heritage 1.
  • Cunliffe E, Pederson W, Fiol M, Jellison T, Saslow C, Bjørgo E, Boccardi G. . Geneva, Switzerland: UNOSAT-UNITAR, 2014.
  • Cunliffe E. . San Francisco: Global Heritage Fund, 2012.