News

1. Outline

2. Background

·The World Heritage Convention has been implemented over the past 50 years. Nonetheless, conservation and management of World Heritage properties encounter challenging missions in today's complex world. Evolving methodologies and perspectives underscore the management of World Heritage, where the traditional boundaries between natural and cultural heritage, tangible and intangible aspects, now necessitate a comprehensive, people-centered approach. Many studies highlight the need for such an integrated approach, but specific methods need to be developed more on a regional bases. World Heritage Interpretation and presentation could serve as a constructive method in addressing these challenges. An inclusive heritage interpretation requires a thorough understanding of the heritage sites not only from the Outstanding Universal Value and other tangible heritage perspectives. It also requires an exploration and reflection of intangible heritage elements that are integral to the maintenance, protection, management, and use of the sites. Applying the tangible intangible heritage integrated approach allows site managers to take into account and reflect upon voices that have often been neglected. This integrated approach

·linking World Heritage (tangible heritage) and Living Heritage (Intangible Cultural Heritage) can also enable a more holistic management of the sites through the consideration of diverse perspectives and methods.

·As one of the most advanced regions in the heritage management and interpretation, East Asia is a very suitable region to pilot new approaches, based on the lessons learned methodologies can be developed for further replication. With a view to develop a methodology that ensuring an integrated approach to managing and interpreting heritage, including both intangible and tangible aspects, the International Centre for the Interpretation and Presentation of World Heritage Sites under the auspices of UNESCO and UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia organize a Capacity-Building Workshop for East Asia on Integrated Approach to Heritage Management in October 2024.

3. Objectives

As the very first pilot capacity-building programme of WHIPIC and the UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, this workshop aims to collect good practices of heritage management caseswith integrated approaches on understanding heritage values. It is also expected to find out shared issues and challenges of heritage management in the East Asian region, especially to apply integrated approaches that consider synergies of tangible and intangible aspects of World Heritage properties.

4. Expected Outcomes

This workshop will focus on understanding holistic perspectives and methods, collecting diverse good practices, and ultimately developing models in the future. Through the models and good practices in East-Asia, this workshop will bring an outcome in a long-term period to develop a shared framework and methodology of heritage management for the East Asian Region, with consideration of its regional context. It is also expected that the collected cases provide insights on heritage interpretation and presentation process to synergise World Heritage and Living Heritage to deliver its diverse values and stories of the property.

5. Working Methods of the Workshop 

The workshop will follow a case studies approach, combining the delivery of latest principles and concepts with practical cases of World Heritage management in the region. An open call will be issued to East Asian countries’ World Heritage sites’ managers and professionals for case studies on an integrated approach to heritage management, particularly focusing on intangible and tangible aspects. Participants will be selected based on the quality of the cases that they can contribute to the discussion.

The workshop will be led by an expert who is knowledgeable in conservation, management and safeguarding of both World Heritage and Living Heritage. Additional experts and guest speakers will be invited to provide in-depth knowledge on specific themes when necessary. The three-day workshop will be held in Beijing, China, allowing for in-person participation. The workshop modules will concentrate on learnings from the cases submitted by participants. Participants will share their case studies and discuss the processes that are needed to ensure holistic heritage management. In this stage, participants will gain insights and knowledge on the recent issues and paradigms in the World Heritage sector, including heritage interpretation and presentation. Additionally, participants will engage in a site visit to a World Heritage property.

The workshop will be carried out in English.

6. Application and Selection

Qualifications:

·The applicants need to be site managers of certain World Heritage properties, and from China, Japan, Mongolia, and the Republic of Korea.

·The applicants need to apply IN PAIR(a team of 2 members)

·(Preferably) The one who is in a managing position, and the other who are in an early-to mid-career position.

·The participants are required to have English proficiency as a working language of the workshop.

Application:

The applicants need to submit application form (Annex1, see Read the original Article at the end of this notification), CVs for each applicant (up to 2 pages), and PowerPoint Slides (up to 5 pages) that introduce your case, with consideration of the topic below:

This workshop aims to collect good practices and cases of World Heritage properties in East Asia that brings synergies with other UNESCO Conventions and programmes, especially the 2003 Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention. Those cases include synergies with tangible and intangible significance of a World Heritage property which promote community engagement, enhance cultural/natural diversity, establish disaster risk resilience, and other specific issues that the place needs to deal with. 

The structure of PowerPoint Slides should be as followed;

1.A Cover Page with a photo of your WH site (1 Page)

2.Brief Introduction on the WH site, including cultural and natural, tangible and intangible values and significance of your site (1 Page)

3.Description on your case by suggesting the questions below (3 pages);

·Which tangible and intangible values/elements of the World Heritage property have you considered for the conservation and management plans for your property?

·How did the tangible-intangible synergies bring a positive impact on the World Heritage property?

·Who has participated in the overall process and what were their roles as important stakeholders/communities of your property?

The application form must be submitted by 8th September 2024, 11:59 PM(KST) by email(whipic@unesco-whipic.org)

The selected participants will be informed by their email.

Selection of Participants:

·15 to 20 participants will be selected through an open call process.

·The participants are required to be motivated, active, and interested in engaging in the field of World Heritage.

·The participants must be responsible for their visa application.Note: Please see [7. Travel Information and Costs] for details.

·The participants must be able to attend ALL sessions during the official workshop period. 

7.Travel Information and Costs

The host institution will provide following supports during the official period of the workshop;

Accommodation, meals and a round-trip flight tickets from your home country to China

TravelInsuranceINChina(during the official workshop programme)

Note: The participants need to be responsible for their visa application. The invitation letters will be provided to support the participant's visa application

8.Contact Information regarding application

whipic@unesco-whipic.org