The World Heritage Centre is at the forefront of the international community’s efforts to protect and preserve.
The Million wells for Bengaluru campaign is an initiative to build one million shallow wells using traditional well-digging techniques. The initiative for the revival of traditional water systems integrates ...
Reintroduction of hydropower in the mills district of the Town of Bamberg (Germany)
The installation of a new water turbine at the site of the former water mills in the Town of Bamberg follows traditional water practices while respecting the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. The new ...
Promoting climate change adaptation and mitigation in Lamu Old Town (Kenya)
Lamu Old Town faces multiple threats from climate change, energy needs and rapid social and economic transformation. The Lamu Old town management plan and the Lamu Municipality Waste Management Policy focused on ...
Funded by the Government of Japan through the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust, implementation from 2022 to 2024. Four World Heritage sites from Asia, Africa, the Arab region and Latin America and the Caribbean work ...
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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Balancing development and conservation in Grand-Bassam (Côte d’Ivoire)
The inscription of the Historic Town of Grand-Bassam on the World Heritage List has provided new opportunities to promote sustainable development in the city. From the creation of a local World Heritage management ...
Cultural entrepreneurship in Cidade Velha, Ribeira Grande (Cabo Verde)
A wide-ranging programme aims to build capacity amongst local residents to understand the potentials offered by cultural heritage, by supporting and enhancing local cultural entrepreneurship. The initiative includes ...
Developing sustainable rural tourism in San Gimignano (Italy)
In reaction to the sharp increase in incoming visitors over the last decades, San Gimignano has developed several initiatives to support jobs and local livelihoods while respecting the town’s cultural heritage, ...
Pedestrianisation of historic streets and public spaces in Graz (Austria)
As part of a wider effort to create a pedestrian-only zone in the historic centre, the city of Graz carried an ambitious programme to re-design its historic streets and public spaces through high-quality design ...
Atlas World Heritage: sharing knowledge and skills amongst European World Heritage cities
The initiative Atlas World Heritage brings together the cities of Florence, Santiago de Compostela, Edinburgh, Oporto, Bordeaux to share their experiences and strategies to safeguard the sites’ OUV. The project has ...
Through a series of strategic actions, Urbino has sought to improve its environmental sustainability and promote climate change mitigation and adaptation. An update of the management plan is currently under way in ...
Taking nature into account in the World Heritage Management plan of Strasbourg (France)
An update of the World Heritage management plan and urban planning tools seeks to integrate cultural and natural heritage values and their attributes in order to improve the city’s liveability and micro-climate.
Strengthening residents’ connection with their gardening heritage in Bamberg (Germany)
In the city of Bamberg, traditional gardening practices are part of the city’s strategy to promote urban sustainability. The COVID-19 pandemic helped to strengthen the local community’s connection with its gardening ...
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of the historic city of L’Aquila (Italy)
The long-term plan aims to promote sustainable urban transportation, reduce emissions and pollution, and enhance liveability in the historic city by enhancing cycling networks and infrastructure, improving existing ...
After the World Heritage Committee warned in 2016 that the poor state of conservation of the property could lead to its inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger, a number of local, national and ...
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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Strengthening World Heritage properties’ resilience to face climate change
Climate change is becoming one of the most significant threats to World Heritage properties, jeopardizing the disappearance of their Outstanding Universal Value, their integrity and the potential for economic and ...
The initiative aims to educate and share the history, culture and heritage of the Brazilian territory of Missions. The exhibition is part of an ongoing project developed by the National Institute for Historic and ...