On 23-24 September, WHITRAP held the online public lecture series on Management Planning for World Heritage. In total about 170 from 17 countries attend the lectures. Management systems/management planning being one of the urgent threats faced by many world heritage properties, this programme endeavours to build the capacity of heritage practitioners in systematic conservation practices, to raise their awareness of the global administrative framework, and to help them accord heritage conservation with sustainable development goals.

As the debut of this programme, the lectures on 23-24 September invited Ms. Carolina Castellano, Senior Consultant of World Heritage, as the key speaker. Ms. Shao Yong, Professor of Tongji University, also joined the event as a guest commentator. Ms. Li Hong, programme specialist at WHITRAP Shanghai, moderated the event.

In the lecture on 23rd, Carolina introduced the World Heritage Convention, from its background, the connections with other Conventions to its development over the 40 years. She particularly illustrates the actors of this convention and the operational guidelines as well as the process to be inscribed on the World Heritage List and the periodic reporting requirement after.

With the administrative framework as a background, the second-day lecture goes on to elucidate the basic concepts of the World Heritage Convention. Audience were introduced to the selection criteria centred around the keywords such as ‘masterpiece’, ‘influence’, ‘testimony’, ‘typology’, ‘land-use’, ‘associations’ etc., which presents a concise and convenient approach to understanding how the world heritage properties are defined. In particular, Carolina clarified the concepts of authenticity and integrity which were two key standards to evaluate the conditions of heritage. Several management models with real-life examples are then presented.