On November 16, 1972, the General Conference of UNESCO passed the "Convention for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of the World." With this convention, UNESCO seeked to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. Today, the so-called "World Heritage List" contains more than 780 entries from all over the globe.

BTU's World Heritage Studies is a unique and innovative program that combines scientific, technical, socio-economic, cultural, ecological and political objectives in order to help protect and conserve the heritage of mankind and thus to serve the goals of the UNESCO convention.

The course of studies integrates lectures and seminars from disciplines such as construction engineering, construction techniques, preservation of monuments and landscapes, management, or cultural studies, for students already holding a Bachelor of Arts and having practical experiences in the respective fields. The program has initially been financed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and is now being supported by the UNESCO / UNITWIN.

The World Heritage Studies program meets the future-oriented, broad range of skills required by executives with its interdisciplinary and modular approach to the programme. Students will be qualified for a wide choise of professions, but can specialize in different areas of the program. The seminars and projects will broaden their ability of structured and complex thinking, communicating, and developing creative solutions.

Graduates will be commissioned by international organizations, national authorities and private institutions to develop concepts and strategies for conservation and rehabilitation of heritage sites.

As managers they will be able to design strategies for an active participation of the local and regional population in the planning and implementation process. Graduates will be qualified to develop and implement concepts for sustainable and ecologically friendly tourism. Skills in fundraising and marketing are essential for this area of work.

As consultants they will work in national and international educational institutions, especially in adult education. They will develop didactic concepts for various target groups who share interests in new approaches to the diversity of cultural and natural heritage. At the same time they are disseminators for a new understanding of World Heritage. They facilitate access to World Heritage for parts of the population who do not participate in and identify themselves with the traditional cultural sector.

As didactic consultants they will work for heritage sites and museums. They will work on new concepts of presentation which go beyond the traditional features of exhibitions and which will emphasize a future perspective. It is their responsibility to develop appropriate forms of mediation for new interpretations of World Heritage.

The program World Heritage Studies integrates the educational content of the different BTU faculties into a single Master course. To learn more about the participating chairs, please see our list of partners.

The program is enriched by a number of specialists from fields such as management, tourism, cultural studies, history, or administration, who are invited to Cottbus as visiting professors. The course is directed and coordinated by the Chair of Intercultural Studies in cooperation with the Faculty for Architecture, Construction Engineering and Urban Planning.