Home
WHITRAP successfully hosts “World Heritage Education Towards a Sustainable Future” - a side event of the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee
  PublishDate:2021-07-23  Hits:1988

 

 

image001

 


Introduction


On 17 July 2021, a side event of the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee was held in Fuzhou on the theme of “World Heritage Education Towards a Sustainable Future”, with Mr. Chen Baosheng, Minister of Education of the People’s Republic of China attending and delivering a keynote speech, and Mr. Wang Ning, Governor of Fujian Province attending the conference. The conference was organised by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, co-organised by the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO and UNESCO Beijing Office, and hosted by the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the Auspices of UNESCO.

The conference included high-level dialogues, experience sharing and other sessions, which combined international high-end and innovation and complemented each other, achieving good results. The conference was a combination of online and offline sessions and was attended by around 150 participants from UNESCO headquarters, relevant international agencies, ministries of education from several countries, provincial education departments of China, Fuzhou City and relevant expert representatives.



image003




1. Opening

The opening session was moderated by Mr. Qin Changwei, Secretary-General of Chinese National Commission for UNESCO.

 

 

image004
Mr. Qin Changwei
Secretary-General of Chinese National Commission for UNESCO


Mr. Agapito Mba Mokuy, Chairperson of the Executive Board of UNESCO, and Mr. Qu Xing, Deputy Director General of UNESCO, warmly congratulated the conference online.


image005
Mr. Agapito Mba Mokuy
Chairperson of the Executive Board of UNESCO

 

 

image006
Mr. Qu Xing
Deputy Director General of UNESCO


In his speech, Mr. Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chairperson of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, Chairperson of the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee, pointed out that thought is the precursor of action, heritage is the sanctuary of the soul and youth is the future of heritage, and that this conference attaches particular importance to the topic of youth and education, and that this side event on heritage education is of great significance.


image007
Mr. Tian Xuejun
Vice Minister of Education of the People’s Republic of China
Chairperson of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO
Chairperson of the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee



2. High-level Dialogue

The High-Level Dialogue was moderated by Mr. Shahbaz Khan, Director of UNESCO Beijing Office.

 

 

image008
Mr. Shahbaz Khan
Director of UNESCO Beijing Office


Mr. Chen Baosheng, Minister of Education of the People’s Republic of China delivered a keynote speech entitled "Passing on World Heritage, Inspiring the Power of the Future".


image009

Mr. Chen Baosheng
Minister of Education of the People’s Republic of China


Mr. Chen Baosheng pointed out that China is both an advocate and a practitioner of World Heritage Education, and that China has developed the concept and practice of World Heritage education with Chinese characteristics as an important element of international cooperation in education. "The World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the Auspices of UNESCO, based at Peking University, Tongji University and Suzhou, has organized several workshops, international conferences and youth summer camps, and compiled works on topics in the field of World Heritage".


image010


Mr. Chen Baosheng stressed that in the face of the unprecedented changes of the past century, World Heritage Education Towards a Sustainable Future should pay more attention to the new challenges facing the cause of World Heritage conservation, to the new trends in educational development, and to the new characteristics of young people. World heritage education will make a great contribution to the promotion of civilizational exchange and mutual appreciation, the construction of ecological civilization and the realization of world peace and sustainable development.

Subsequently, the Ministers of Education from Egypt, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Namibia and Thailand, the Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to UNESCO, the Ambassador of the Federative Republic of Cuba to UNESCO, and Ms. Jyoti Hosagrahar, Deputy Director, World Heritage Center, Culture Sector, UNESCO, spoke online, expressing their high recognition of China's work in the field of World Heritage education and introducing relevant experiences and practices in this field.


image011
Mr. Shafqat Mahmood
Minister for Federal Education Professional Training and National Heritage of Pakistan



3. International Case Sharing

In the International case sharing session, experts presented the latest practical examples and key experiences of World Heritage education from around the world.

Dr. Li Xin, Deputy Secretary-General, World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the Auspices of UNESCO, introduced the international call for innovative cases of World Heritage education, using an innovative interactive video format to share the 10 outstanding international case studies selected from five continents, and to summarise the five attributes of the future of World Heritage education, with a view to providing a frame of reference for future action for the innovators concerned.


image012


image013
Mr. Li Xin
Deputy Secretary-General of World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the Auspices of UNESCO


The "World Heritage Education Towards a Sustainable Future" video was well received for its core of academic research and its innovative and lively format.



Please click to watch the "World Heritage Education Towards a Sustainable Future" video

 

 

As one of the recommended case studies, Ms. Yuan Aijun, Director of World Heritage Education Center for Youth, shared special activities such as the National Youth Heritage Knowledge Competition.


image014

Ms. Yuan Aijun
Director of World Heritage Education Center for Youth


In addition, Dr. Ping Kong, Founder of Heritage & Education gGmbH i.G. and Member of ICOMOS Germany, presented relevant examples of heritage education for youth in Germany.



4. Closing

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presents particular complex challenges and uncertainties for World Heritage, with particular attention being paid to the issues of youth and education. The thematic side-event was an important step forward and a step back, providing a high-level perspective on the future of heritage education, while the call for international innovative cases in World Heritage Education launched by WHITRAP provided an international exchange platform for global practitioners to build and share, and was of great significance in reaching a new and important consensus on World Heritage Education Towards a Sustainable Future and jointly mapping out the future blueprint of World Heritage education.


image015
Covers in Chinese and English versions of The Call For International Innovative Cases in World Heritage Education 




Contributed by: Li Xin
Translated by: Xiao Yun
Edited by: Xu Xinyu


Copyright © 2009-2012 World Heritage Institute of Training and Research-Asia and Pacific (shanghai)