The World Heritage Centre is at the forefront of the international community’s efforts to protect and preserve.
World Heritage and Biodiversity
Biological diversity underpins ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services essential for human well-being. World Heritage properties are the most outstanding places on the planet and constitute a ...
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UNESCO Urban Heritage Atlas: Cultural mapping for historic cities and settlements
The Urban Heritage Atlas is an atlas and an archive that documents and explains, visually, narratively and with analytical maps, the diversity and uniqueness of the world’s historic cities and settlements. As such, ...
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World Heritage Cities Programme
The World Heritage Cities Programme is one of six thematic programmes formally approved and monitored by the World Heritage Committee. The programme concerns the development of a theoretical framework for urban ...
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Understanding, managing and conserving World Heritage properties requires up-to-date knowledge and well-honed skills. To help build the capacity of all stakeholders in World Heritage – whether they are ...
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The UNESCO Thematic Indicators for Culture in the 2030 Agenda (Culture|2030 Indicators) is a framework of thematic indicators whose purpose is to measure and monitor the progress of culture’s enabling contribution ...
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World Heritage Marine Programme
50 flagship marine protected areas of Outstanding Universal Value: Beacons of Hope In a Changing Ocean
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Corporate sector and the World Heritage ‘no-go’ commitment
Across the extractives, finance, insurance and hydropower sectors, among others, major public and private companies and industry associations have committed to protect UNESCO World Heritage sites. They have often ...
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Dive into Heritage is creating an innovative online platform that leverages digital technologies to safeguard and promote World Heritage sites and its related intangible heritage, and transmit it to future ...
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World Heritage Online Map Platform
Funded by the Flanders UNESCO Trustfund (FUT), an online geographic information system for World Heritage is being developed.
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Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape
The Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) is an additional tool to integrate policies and practices of conservation of the built environment into the wider goals of urban development in ...
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Central Africa World Heritage Forest Initiative (CAWHFI)
Covering an area estimated at 1.62 million km2, the forests of Central Africa are home to vital biodiversity for the planet and play a central role in climate regulation and carbon sequestration.
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50 Minds for the Next 50. Dialogue Series
UNESCO launches “50 Minds for The Next 50” to convene fifty leading, innovative, bold, respected thinkers of our times from diverse disciplines for the most interdisciplinary discussion on World Heritage ever to be ...
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Basic Texts of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, Edition December 2023
Basic Texts of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, Edition December 2023
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In recent years, the framework for training and research in the field of World Heritage has changed significantly. Among the factors that have contributed to these rapid changes, is the emerging of many new ...
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Climate Change and World Heritage
World Heritage properties are affected by the impacts of climate change at present and in the future. Their continued preservation requires understanding these impacts to their Outstanding Universal Value and ...
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There exist a great variety of Landscapes that are representative of the different regions of the world. Combined works of nature and humankind, they express a long and intimate relationship between peoples and ...
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Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context
UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee have issued new guidance for assessing impacts from projects that could potentially affect the planet’s most precious heritage places. Designed ...
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Managing Natural World Heritage
The goal of this Resource Manual is to help State Parties to manage natural values within World Heritage properties. As such it is aimed at natural and mixed World Heritage properties as well as cultural landscapes.
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The World Heritage Convention is one of the most successful international instruments to protect the most extraordinary natural places on the planet, characterized by their natural beauty or outstanding ...
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Post-Conflict and Post-Disaster Reconstruction and Recovery
Post-conflict and post-disaster reconstruction became an increasingly important issue after the destruction of cultural heritage sites in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Nepal, Syria, and Yemen. ...
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Reducing Disasters Risks at World Heritage Properties
World Heritage properties and heritage sites in general are exposed to the impacts of natural and man-triggered catastrophic events, which threaten their integrity and may compromise their value. The loss or ...
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World Heritage and Indigenous Peoples
Many cultural and natural World Heritage sites are home to indigenous peoples. As the UNESCO policy on engaging with indigenous peoples recognizes, World Heritage sites are often located within land managed by ...
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World Heritage and Sustainable Development
Heritage was long absent from the mainstream sustainable development debate despite its crucial importance to societies and the wide acknowledgment of its great potential to contribute to social, economic and ...
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World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme
The UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme represents a new approach based on dialogue and stakeholder cooperation where planning for tourism and heritage management is integrated at a destination ...
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