41st World Heritage Committee Session in Krakow, Poland

On July 2-12th 2017, I got a chance to join 41st WHC session as part of Global Network of World Heritage Studies team. Our team joined as observer during the WHC session, joined some world heritage field trip in Krakow and initiated a global world heritage networking event in Krakow.

The World Heritage Convention was created in an effort to salvage cultural and natural heritage in a world where heritage sites were being damaged and threatened by armed conflicts, environmental destruction, and the side-effects of rapid economic development. Today, even though more than 40 years have passed since the adoption of the World Heritage Convention, those problems still persist, while the international community is also facing recently developed problems in the form of climate change, growing political conflicts, and a new rise of extremist ideologies.

At the same time, the methods and practices of heritage management, evaluation and protection do not keep up with the speed of the times. This is probably partly due to the fact that the methods for recognizing and evaluating heritage often keep the concepts of culture and nature, as well as tangible and intangible heritage, separated and handle them individually. In reality, culture and nature, tangible and intangible heritage, are all interlinked and interrelated, and it is necessary to develop methodologies that can comprehensively handle complex contexts. 

With that ambition in mind, the Global Network of World Heritage Studies was created to exchange ideas, establish relations and build cooperation among people interested in heritage. Both students, experts, local stakeholders and other interested parties are welcome and together we can strive to develop new methodologies for heritage management and protection.

We aim to protect the valuable traces of the past for the future, and to give the next generation a chance to do the same.

More info about the Global Network of World Heritage Studies : website
41 World Heritage Committee Session

Photo credit : © fot. Paweł Suder, Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa