News

In line with UNESCO's Global Priorities for Africa and Gender Equality, UNESCO developed a Mentorship Programme to train young African experts on World Heritage. In close partnership with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and the Advisory Bodies (ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN), 50 women experts will be trained to further support African Members States to implement the World Heritage Convention ...

From 26 to 30 July 2023, UNESCO organized an intensive training course for more than 20 cultural heritage professionals from eight regions of Ukraine, including the cities of Odesa, Kyiv and L’viv, threatened by increasingly frequent attacks. With the support of Japan, the in-person training aimed to strengthen the knowledge and expertise of Ukrainian heritage professionals in disaster risk ...

On 24 July 2023, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in partnership with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and ICCROM, held an online workshop dedicated to “Re-discovering African urban heritage through the lenses of the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape” (HUL). Thanks to the generous support of the Government of Norway, the workshops recorded the participation of over 100 ...

Last July, students joined an environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling campaign in the ocean areas bordering the pebble beaches of the Península Valdés World Heritage site, as part of the global eDNA expeditions that UNESCO is currently piloting across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the effects of climate change. Water samples were collected from 5 ...

On 22 June 2023, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre organized a Learning & exchange workshop on ‘Post COVID-19 World Heritage Site Management: Integration of Conservation, Tourism and Local Livelihood Strategies at World Heritage Sites,’ a project funded by the government of Japan through the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust. (c) Dr Ang Ming Chee. Extract from the PowerPoint Presentation ...

Living Heritage: Revitalising Stone Town of Zanzibar Socioeconomic Development On 25 July 2023, UNESCO organized a launch event for the project, Living Heritage: Revitalising Stone Town of Zanzibar Socioeconomic Development. Honorable Simai Mohammed Said, Minister of Tourism and Heritage in the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar graced the event. The launch was participated by government ...

UNESCO is deeply dismayed and condemns in the strongest terms the brazen attack carried out by the Russian forces, which hit several cultural sites in the city center of Odesa, home to the World Heritage property ‘The Historic Centre of Odesa’. The attack took the lives of at least two people, according to preliminary reports, and damaged a number of significant cultural sites, including the ...

The 4th Huangshan Dialogue on UNESCO-designated sites and Sustainable Development held on 29-30 June in Huangshan, China by the International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage (HIST) under the auspices of UNESCO, adopted the Huangshan Vision calling for tech-enhanced heritage protection cooperation. The Huangshan Vision emphasizes the potential role of space, ...

In 2023 many natural World Heritage sites in Africa have faced serious challenges related to civil unrest and conflicts threatening biodiversity. The Rapid Response Facility (RRF), a UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Fauna and Flora International joint initiative, has quickly mobilized resources to partners on the ground to tackle these emergency situations. © Wild Africa ...

Among the damage found, much of it as a result of the fires that occurred in October 2022, there are serious alterations in 22 moai, caused by various factors, which must be addressed in the short term. After this first phase of diagnosis following the fires, a participatory risk management plan will be developed. Simultaneously, training will be conducted on topics such as mitigation, ...

The final online session of the World Heritage Site Managers' Forum centered around the crucial role of people in managing and preserving UNESCO World Heritage sites. With a focus on "Managing World Heritage - the People," the session brought together site managers, heritage professionals, and experts from around the world to discuss the challenges, opportunities, and future directions of ...

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Secretariat to the World Heritage Convention and the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) signed a landmark agreement on Monday 26 June 2023 in a new effort to ensure the sustainability of trade in species of wild animals and plants occurring in ...

On 5 July 2023, five new projects in the field of cultural heritage were launched during a kick-off coordination meeting between UNESCO and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Over US$ 10 million will be provided across three years in the framework of the Fund-in-Trust Agreement signed in January 2020 between UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “The major contribution ...

Site managers from Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal, gathered from 12 to 16 June 2023 in Toubacouta in the Saloum Delta (Senegal) to reaffirm their strong commitment to work towards the Desired State of Conservation of six West African sites to remove them from the List of World Heritage in Danger. This important workshop was hosted by the Government of Senegal, and ...

The final report of the 4th regional workshop on the Role of Visitor Centres in UNESCO Designated Sites has been released online. It provides insight from participants on fostering tourism sustainability and effective visitor management. The workshop, held in Buzau in November, brought together managers from 22 UNESCO sites across 16 European countries, offering a platform to exchange ...

A highly anticipated inception workshop titled "Heritage for Peace: Enhancing Transboundary and Regional Cooperation for Natural and Mixed World Heritage Sites in Asia" was successfully held on 6 July 2023, in an online format. This experts’ workshop marked a crucial step towards promoting transboundary conservation efforts and unlocking the immense potential of Asia's natural and mixed ...

The second online session of the 5th World Heritage Site Managers' Forum was successfully held on 4 July 2023, with active participation from UNESCO World Heritage site managers worldwide. Around 145 participants gathered for this session, resulting in a collaborative and informative gathering. The first part of the session was led by UNESCO, which provided a comprehensive overview of the ...

The Call for Applications for the 2023 Global Awards for World Heritage Education Innovative Cases is now open until the 31st of July.  Introduction Film for 2023 Global Awards for World Heritage Education Innovative Cases play_arrow play_arrow Watch Organizations National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO Co-organized by: World Heritage Institute of ...

Copenhagen, 3 July 2023 – The city of Barcelona has been officially designated as World Capital of Architecture for 2026 by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay. The designation was made on the recommendation of the Joint UNESCO-UIA Committee for the World Capital of Architecture that is presided by the eminent architect, Dominique Perrault. We are pleased to see the baton of the ...

Over 40 students collected environmental DNA (eDNA) samples in the Socotra Archipelago World Heritage site, as part of the global eDNA expeditions UNESCO is currently piloting across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the effects of climate change. From 28 June to 3 July 2023, 44 students aged 11 to 16 years from four schools collected water samples at ...