On 18-19 November, the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (WHITRAP Shanghai) organized the 2021 Heritage Asia and the Pacific (HeritAP) annual meeting on “Conserving the Hearts of Asia: Rural Heritage”. Heritage practitioners across the world especially those from the Asia-Pacific region gathered together and shared their practices and experiences of rural revitalization. JING Feng, Chief of Asia and the Pacific Unit at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, and Webber NDORO, Director-General at the ICCROM, delivered the opening addresses. Six regional representatives from UNESCO, IUCN, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), WHITRAP Shanghai, the International Committee of Vernacular Architecture (ICOMOS-CIAV), and the ICOMOS/IFLA International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes (ISCCL), presented keynote speeches. 14 presentations were delivered by the national representatives from China, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Pakistan, India, Iran, and Malaysia. In total 195 audience are involved.

In the webinar, members of HeritAP summarized the key characteristics of rural heritage, looked into the way that current international conventions and programs directly or indirectly contribute to rural heritage conservation, and finally shared experiences of rural heritage conservation based on case studies. These case studies reflect the four key issues that have been encountered throughout the practices: the building of synergies among the current conventions and programs; community empowerment and multiple stakeholder involvement; integrated development of industries and the balance among the social, economic, and ecological aspects; and the linkage of metropolis with rural areas.

This webinar was concluded with a proposed outlook for what WHITRAP can do in the future. HeritAP will continue to focus on rural heritage especially the four key issues in the following years. With the vision to conserve rural heritage, WHITRAP Shanghai has established five missions: to improve the quality of agricultural development through advanced technology; to promote green, resilient, and people-centred development of rural areas; to enhance rural culture and its revitaliztion; to respect traditional knowledge and provide assistance to the communities; to establish a harmonious urban and rural relationship.

We are expecting to see more exemplary cases across the Asia-Pacific region that will be presented in the HeritAP Webinars in the following years, and more advanced experience can be shared at a larger scale to contribute to the sustainable development of rural heritage.

For more information, please download the document below.

 Summary of HeritAP Annual Meeting