One of the greatest tragedies of war is the loss of innocent life, and it’s rightly at the forefront of how we measure the cost of conflict. Against that reality, the protection of buildings and monuments can seem frivolous — even misplaced. But organisations like Blue Shield, a non‑profit dedicated to safeguarding cultural heritage, argue otherwise. They believe the built environment carries deep meaning, memory and identity — and that preserving it plays a vital role in the resilience and recovery of communities caught in conflict.