UNESCO Chairs Workshop for Protecting Historic Cities and Landscapes: Compatible Design for New Interventions

The UNESCO Chairs Workshop on "Protecting Historic Cities and Landscapes - Compatible Design for New Interventions" was held from 28 to 29 September 2023, marked with the 15th anniversary of the inscription of ‘Mantua and Sabbioneta’ on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The event was organised by UNESCO Chair in Architectural Preservation and Planning in World Heritage Cities, with support from Politecnico di Milano and the municipalities of Mantua and Sabbioneta. Two-days’ workshop was held in hybrid-format both, online and on-site.

The workshop gathering international UNESCO chairs and experts, contributed substantially to the reflection on the innovative approaches for urban heritage conservation and design in the context of new challenges.

In her opening remarks, the Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre, Ms Jyoti Hosagrahar expressed heartfelt condolences for the sudden passing of Prof. Federico Bucci, Mantua UNESCO Chairholder just a few weeks before the workshop. The workshop, dedicated to his memory, was organised thanks to the commitment of the UNESCO Chair in Architectural Preservation and Planning in World Heritage Cities. The event was organized by the UNESCO Chair of Politecnico di Milano together with the Cities of Mantua and Sabbioneta bringing together the Mayors and Councillors of the cities and region as well as 12 UNESCO Chairs from around the world working on urban heritage related topics who shared their experiences in working with different World Heritage and urban heritage properties.

Ms Hosagrahar also delivered a lecture regarding the implementation of the HUL Recommendation entitled "World Heritage Cities: Conservation, Sustainable Development, and Resilience." At the Roundtable on "Guidance for designing new constructions in historic cities," she also gave an overview of the technical publication "Managing Urban Heritage: A Resource Manual for Implementing the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape," with a view to receiving the feedback and inputs from the UNESCO Chairs. They provided very positive feedback. Additionally, participants were directed to a recently launched UNESCO Guidance Toolkit for Impact Assessments for managing and mitigating negative impacts in historic urban environments.

The workshop further affirmed UNESCO Chairs' role as important laboratories of research and innovation, as well as capacity building, promoting capacity building in urban heritage conservation, and reiterating an enduring dedication to effective World Heritage property management and the incorporation of heritage conservation into urban development plans and processes.

The event recording is available on YouTube through the following links:

Watch the workshop:

Day 1 

Day 2

Download the agenda here.

https://www.unescochair.mantova.polimi.it/?page_id=1330