About

The UNESCO Chair in World Heritage Studies at Brandenburg University of Technology is pleased to host an international conference on "World Heritage and Cultural Diversity – Challenges for University Education".

The event is being co-organised by the German Commission for UNESCO and in co-operation with the Association Vocations Patrimoine. The conference patrons are the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UNESCO Word Heritage Centre.

The conference aims to discuss in which way World Heritage sites show aspects of cultural diversity and how these aspects can better be used for the involvement of communities. Another aim is to connect a broad understanding of diversity with existing and future discourses on heritage and its protection. The subject of the conference reflects the current scientific and political discussion of World Heritage, as the sustainable protection of World Heritage sites has reached a new dimension in the context of the opportunities and challenges of cultural diversity.

Four panels will discuss the topics outlined below.

  • How can the diversity of World Heritage be strengthened and how can new dimensions be developed for defining Outstanding Universal Value?
  • To what extent are new instruments like the UN’s Millennium Declaration and the 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples taken into account in actual practice?
  • How can university education be enriched by World Heritage and its diversity?
Panel 1
Heritage and its transformation in time and space		 Panel 2
Politics and (In)Justice in Relation to World Heritage		 Panel 3
Diversity of Heritage, Intangible Culture and Protection Strategies		 Panel 4
Evolving Landscapes, Outstanding Universal Value and Sustainable Use

The information on this website will be updated on a regular basis.