——Mr. Changwei QIN, Secretary-General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO

Ms Veronica Maduna, the Head of Partnership of the African World Heritage Fund, emphasized that her organization is dedicated to advancing heritage conservation in Africa. Since the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation with WHITRAP in 2019, both sides have embarked on a series of collaborations, particularly in the realm of heritage education. We stand ready to collaborate with all stakeholders, leveraging AWHEIC as a pivotal mechanism and catalyst, to propel the innovative development of global World Heritage education.

The competition for 2024 AWHEIC was more intense than ever, with a total of 30 cases selected from over 100 cases worldwide. Three international guests unveiled the winners of 2024 Global Awards for World Heritage Education Innovation Case (AWHEIC), and promotional video of 2024 winners of Star of Outstanding was played.

(In no particular order)

Ms Veronica Maduna, the Head of Partnership of the African World Heritage Fund, announced 10 winners of "Stars of Discovery".

Evaluation: The cases are committed to deep value exploration, achieving innovative education model, which is of global demonstrative significance.

• Mak'TAB – School of "Restoration of Historical Monuments" (Azerbaijan)
• Wall Painting along the Silk Road -Public Aesthetic Education of Chinese Ancient Mural Restoration (China)
• Dance States New Heritage: Immersive Dance Empowerment for Cultural Heritage (China)
• Floating Silk Road: Museum Well-being for Expats (China)
• Craftsmanship from Heart: Public Participation of Suzhou Traditional Architectural design and practices (China)
• Bringing National Treasures to Life (China)
• Co-constructing of Heritage: “Macao Memory” Cultural and Historic Data Platform (Macao, China)
• Shanghai Accent, A Century-Old New Voice - Shanghai Opera Theatre @ No.150 Fenyang Road (China)
• Mount Tai Spirit to Inspire the World - A "Four-in-one" Innovative Educational Practice at the World Heritage Site of Mount Tai (China)
• AI Music of Jiaoxi: A New Approach of the Revitalization for Historic Towns (China)

3. Star of the Future

Evaluation: New initiation contains infinite potential and possibility of heritage education model innovation, with representing the future.

• Science-based Apprenticeship: Co-training of Future Restorers of Architectural Heritage (China)
• Craftsmanship in Construction - Educational Practices of Architectural Heritage in Ethnic Corridors (China)
• Centennial Mine, Mount Dagushan (New Zealand)
• Rebirth of Heritage - Awakening the Dormant Agricultural Cultural Heritage (China)
• Siming Cooperation Program (China)
• Panda Talking —International Students Telling Stories about China's Intangible Cultural Heritage (China)
• Changing role of volunteers in world heritage education and management in Bangladesh (Bangladesh)
• Panda Ambassador: Integrating Traditional Livelihoods and Heritage Conservation through World Heritage Education (China)
• Volunteer’s New Dive: Tomb-guarding Village Conservation Project (China)
• IARA Village Revitalization—Fengwu Ji: The Memory and Future of the Village (China)

(In no particular order)

III. Joint Projects and Networks

In recent years, WHITRAP and AWHEIC, together with many international organizations, have carried out a series of explorations in joint projects and network construction in heritage education.

Marie-Noël Tournoux, Project Director of WHITRAP (Shanghai), introduced the development of Urban Heritage Conservationin Higher Education Institutions (UHC-HEI).

Mr. Carlos Augusto Torres Perez introduced the development of heritage education in Latin America by taking the example of the Sino-Mexico Heritage Education Demonstration Project jointly carried out by WHITRAP the UNOSSC.

At present, AWHEIC has gathered 300 innovative cases of heritage education from various fields around the world, representing the international frontier of innovation. With the cooperation and exchanges with the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, ICCROM, WHV and relevant category-2 centers, a cooperation network covering all continents has been formed, and the brand influence and cooperation network are increasing day by day.

IV. Sharing of Excellent WH Education Innovative Cases

After the announcement, Ms. Veronica Maduna hosted the online sharing session of Excellent World Heritage Education Innovative Cases. Five representatives from the 2024 award-winning cases around the world shared their international experience in combination with the exploration of model innovation.

1. Mak'TAB – School of "Restoration of Historical Monuments"
Speaker: Elsevar Mammadov, Head of the Department of International Relations and Protocol of the Administration of State Historical-Architectural Reserve “Icherisheher”

2. Development of Tiger Balm Garden Metaverse Platform for Collaborative Learning, Lost Heritage Reconstruction, and Public Awareness Enhancement
Speakers: Dr Wong Yin Cheung Eugene, Associate Professor, Department of Supply Chain and Information Management; Director, Virtual Reality Centre

3. Anthro on Foot Audio Walking Tours: the journey to publishing 50 audio walking tours for all 17 regions in the Philippines
Speaker: Raizel Pauline Albano, Founder-Director, Anthro on Foot Audio Walking Tours

4. HeritageLab: The Multidisciplinary Crossroads Where Heritage, Communities and Students Meet
Speaker: Alia Yunis, Phd, Co-Founder of HeritageLab & Visiting Scholar at Arab Gulf States Institute；Salama Al Faheem: HeritageLab Student Coordinator and Kawadar PostGraduate Researcher at New York University Abu Dhabi

5. Saving the Ancient Buildings in Kuche
Speaker: Bin XU, Deputy Director of Planning and Cultural Heritage Center

V. Conclusion and Way Forward

Lastly, Dr. Li Xin concluded the side event by presenting AWHEIC’s future roadmap, bringing the side event to a successful conclusion.

This side event is another successful and exciting appearance of WHITRAP and AWHEIC on the international stage of the World Heritage Committee, following the 44th session in Fuzhou in 2021 and the 45th session in Saudi Arabia in 2023. It has received high praise from the international community, greatly expanding and enhancing the international cooperation network, and promoting AWHEIC to a new level while highlighting the comprehensive strength of WHITRAP. In the future, we will continue to work hard and play a leading role in the field of World Heritage education to provide an international platform for global heritage education innovators to exchange ideas.