The People's Republic of China, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICCROM and IUCN, in close cooperation with ICOMOS, are delighted to announce that the fourth edition of the World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum (WHSMF 2021) will be organized within the framework of the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee, with the theme: “World Heritage governance – Being prepared to manage change and continuity”.

The Forum will take place in an online format. World Heritage Site Managers from across the globe are invited to participate in this year’s Forum, aimed at continuing to empower World Heritage Site Managers on the international stage. 

•Dates: 7 ‐ 13 July 2021

•Location: Online platform

•Language: English (only)

•Host: The People’s Republic of China

•Organizers: The People's Republic of China, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership Programme

•Partner: ICOMOS

The major objectives of the 2021 edition of World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum are to:

• Promote international cooperation of World Heritage Site Managers and co-ordinate worldwide actions in favor of the protection and conservation of humankind’s historical heritage through activities and interventions aimed at raising the awareness of States Parties to this heritage;

• To form an international network that defines, improves and promotes conservation principles, standards, research, responsible practice, innovation about the protection of worldwide heritage;

• to assist Site Managers through appropriate guidance, to harness the potential of World Heritage properties and heritage in general, to contribute to sustainable development and increase the effectiveness and relevance of the World Heritage Convention whilst respecting its primary purpose and mandate of protecting the Outstanding Universal value of World Heritage properties;

• Strengthen the enabling environment by advocating policies, strategies, frameworks and tools that support sustainable tourism as an important vehicle for protecting and managing cultural and natural heritage of Outstanding Universal Value;

• Directly expose the Site Managers to the issues discussed during the World Heritage Committee sessions on the state of conservation (SOC) reports.

Therefore, to address the stated objectives, the 2021 edition of the World Heritage Site Managers' Forum will cover the following topics under the title “World Heritage governance – Being prepared to manage change and continuity”:

• World Heritage Convention and working processes;

• World Heritage management and available tools;

• Management systems, plans and governance arrangements/mechanisms – Understanding the framework and the role of site managers within;

• Sustainable development of community and being prepared for change – Gradual, sudden, economic, social and developmental change;

• Who to involve for change preparation and how? – Stakeholders, rightsholders, community engagement.

• Participants from all natural, cultural and mixed World Heritage properties may apply;

• The online Forum is designed for a maximum of 100 participants, on an exceptional basis;

• For their application to be considered, participants should be able to demonstrate their involvement in ongoing management activities of the World Heritage properties they represent;

• There will be only one (1) participant per World Heritage property to participate in the Forum. An exception will be made for transboundary or transnational serial properties, for which only one (1) person per State Party involved may be accepted;

• Priority will be given to participants whose properties have state of conservation reports discussed at the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee. In addition, Site Managers who have not yet had the opportunity to attend a previous edition of the World Heritage Site Manager’s Forum will be given preference;

• Selection will also be guided in view of balancing regional and gender distribution of participants as well as types of World Heritage properties represented;

• The working language of the Forum will be English (only). English knowledge needs to be demonstrated in the application process;

• Participants must guarantee to be equipped with appropriate tools and stable internet connection, microphone and headset and commit to attend all the live-sessions to be eligible for the e-certificate.

Please note, that the following information will be requested as part of the registration process. All documents must be presented in English.

• Description of duty performed by the applicant at the World Heritage property in 150 words (max.) 

• A professional Curriculum vitae in 2 pages (max.) in PDF format

Site Managers are invited to submit their application through the online registration form of the World Heritage Site Manager’s Forum 2021, which is available at http://44whcfuzhou2020.i-mice.cn/manager

The deadline to apply to the 2021 World Heritage Site Managers Forum is 28 May 2021 at 23:59 CET (Paris time).

Participants will be informed of the results of the selection process at the latest 3 weeks prior to the opening of the online Forum.