Globally, the scope of efforts to address Heritage in times of disaster are manifold and offer an enormous opportunities for US cultural heritage personnel as well as disaster planners and first responders. This work is occurring in tandem with the development of a new international framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) called the Sendai Framework which was adopted by the countries of the World in March, 2015. Sendai creates a new, comprehensive set of common standards with achievable targets, and a legally-based instrument for disaster risk reduction. As a resulting of sustained engagement by the ICOMOS International Committee on Risk Preparedness (ICORP), ICCROM, the World Heritage Center and others, the new framework contains a strong heritage component. This US/ICOMOS Knowledge Community will be particularly valuable in assisting US heritage and disaster management professionals in assessing the global shift in focus from response to preparedness reflected by Sendai in order to mitigate the impact of disasters. Against this framework, our policy and material science dimensions of heritage in times of conflict and disasters will be explored including innovative global work around the development of tools for assessing the economic impact of disasters on cultural heritage; incorporating heritage into regional disaster management planning; transferring traditional knowledge and building technology into current mitigation measures; and awareness of the role of heritage in helping communities recover from disasters.