OurWorldHeritage - Newsletter July

Dear reader,

Thank you for staying connected to the OWH initiative. We are at the beginning of the second half of a year of monthly debates. We just concluded a month of 20 sessions on the thematic debate of June 2021 -New Heritage Approaches- and we want to thank everyone who has made it possible. We invite you to stay connected and look for the results of these discussions!

In this newsletter, we are happy to announce the July thematic month: Sustainability! You will have the opportunity to go through the program of all the events planned for this month. Save the dates and join us! At the end of this newsletter you will find the OWH Voices initiative, an open platform for interested and concerned citizens to comment on the 44th Session of the World Heritage Committee. Do not miss the updates at our website.

OWH is an initiative created by individuals working on a 100% voluntary capacity. OWH provides an open dialogue platform that is based on voluntary work of session organizers and speakers. Some of the content of the presenters and discussions may be offensive to some viewers. OWH welcomes diverse viewpoints in the spirit of collegial debate where mutual respect is afforded to all.

Do not forget to follow and share our Social Media channels which we are continuously expanding. On behalf of the OurWorldHeritage network, we send you warm wishes, and a fruitful month dedicated to Sustainability!

World Heritage is a medium to achieve our transformation into more locally empowered, just and resilient societies. Development processes can and should be reconfigured to fully reflect the contribution of heritage conservation, in a more sustainable form of development grounded in Outstanding Universal Value, managed with transparency, dialogue and understanding.

The events planned for the month of July consist of 16 sessions presented over 5 weeks. These sessions include the presentation of the results on the Case Studies Regional Workshop launched in February and during the last week, a series of preparatory sessions towards the Heritage@50FORUM. Please find more information on the global program of Sustainability below.

You do not want to miss it! Please follow our updates here.

Join us for the sessions planned in July and contribute to the discussions around Our Sustainable Heritage: World Heritage conservation as a more sustainable form of development. Click on the event of your interest for further details. The direct links for access/registration are also available for each session.

SESSION 1: THURSDAY, JULY 1, 11:00-12:30 UTC

INAUGURAL SESSION: OUR WORLD HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABILITY >> (soon to be uploaded online)

SESSION 2: FRIDAY, JULY 2, 13:00-14:30 UTC

SESSION 3: SATURDAY, JULY 3, 13:00-14:30 UTC

SESSION 4: WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 17:00-19:30 UTC

SESSION 5: THURSDAY, JULY 8, 22:00-00:00 UTC

SESSION 6: FRIDAY, JULY 9,13:00-15:00 UTC

SESSION 7: SATURDAY, JULY 10, 15:00-17:00 UTC

INDIGENOUS FORUM 2 >>

THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021, 13:00-15:00 UTC

SESSION 8: FROM THE REGIONAL TO THE GLOBAL APPROACH: CASE STUDIES 1 >>

SESSION 9: FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021, 13:00-15:00 UTC

SESSION 10: SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2021, time t.b.c.

SESSION 11: THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2021, time t.b.c.

SESSION 12: FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2021, time t.b.c.

SESSION 13: SATURDAY, JULY 24, time t.b.c.

SESSION 14: THURSDAY, JULY 29, time t.b.c.

SESSION 15: FRIDAY, JULY 30,14:30-16:00 UTC

SESSION 16: SATURDAY, JULY 31,14:00-16:00 UTC

REMINDER: OUR YOU SUSTAINABILITY YOUTH SURVEY IS STILL ONLINE! It is available in 13 languages.

OurWorldHeritage (OWH) brings the public debate to the next stage! We are launching OWHvoices, an online forum to accompany the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee, which takes place July 16-31 2021. You can participate in this forum and comment on the discussions and State of Conservation of all Heritage Sites under review at this meeting. Many sites struggle with conservation issues that are potentially endangering their sustainability. Participants may add knowledge and viewpoints in real time during the debate on those properties being discussed. We welcome diverse voices to help find solutions. Registration for participation opens soon!

Please find more information on the Extended 44th session of the (online) World Heritage Committee in Fuzhou (China) on the official website of the World heritage Center.

Please note that OurWorldHeritage is an independent organisation that functions on a 100% voluntary capacity basis and is under no circumstance officially affiliated to UNESCO.

The forum is currently under construction, more info posted soon at www.ourworldheritage.org/voices

The September #2021debate Heritage Places and Memory collects examples of good practice of inclusive heritage interpretation. Participants are invited to specify which of the following three Heritage Places and Memory themes they are addressing:

– CHANGING MEANING: Cause of change (conflict, natural disaster, socio-economic change, change of interpretation, etc.), Tools for mapping meaning change (digital tools, crowdsources, social meida, public consultation such as surveys and internet, etc.)

GENERAL INTERPRETATION OF A HERITAGE SITE: How interpretation communicates the values and significance of a site for all stakeholders and the general public, including how interpretation links with contemporary concerns.

DISSONANT MEMORIES: Cases addressing issues of discrimination against minorities, of colonial domination or of recent conflicts, using an inclusive approach.

Please submit your case study here, before 31 July 2021, 23:59 UCT, in compliance with the general submission guidelines:

The team of #2021debate Heritage Places and Memory is pleased to invite YOUTH AROUND THE WORLD to participate in the global competition and submit short films on local or indigenous memories in/of World Heritage Sites. You can participate with your friends or your class. The reward for the best video is a cash prize of USD $200!!

Selected videos will be released on the OurWorldHeritage website and the makers will be invited to share their memory during the Youth Roundtable in September. Updates on the competition will be shared on the Heritage Places & Memory webpage. We wish you good luck!

STEP 1: Post your video on Instagram before 31 July 2021, 23:59 UCT. Your video should not exceed the length of 2 minutes!

STEP 2: write in the description how heritage plays a role in your memory video (max. 200 words)

STEP 3: Tag #2021debate, #OWH50, #heritageplacesandmemory and #shareyourmemorychallenge.

STEP 4: Tag @ourworldheritage_50, @ourworldheritage_kr_50 and 3 of your friends.

STEP 5: Confirm your submission by sending the video-link to: memory.owh@gmail.com.

Please find the extended guidelines for submission here.

In the framework of the December #2021debate Opening up to Civil Society, this survey is aiming at gathering data that can help us in our research to make effective comparisons about the role of civil society in heritage governance over time and across countries, within and outside of UNESCO frameworks. Thank you in advance for your collaboration. We really appreciate your time! For more questions email us at owhcivilsociety@gmail.com.

Access the survey HERE.

The Global competition’s 1st place winner of the Transformational Impacts of Information technologies, led by Ester Van Steekelenburg and Sameeha Sheth, entrepreneurs and respected experts in the field of heritage conservation in India and elsewhere in Asia, proposed the further implementation of a community and user feedback platform called IDiscover app, a powerful GPS-based storytelling and wayfinding app capable of providing community curated ‘heritage trails.’

This app allows the presentation of themed walking or cycling itineraries supported by short narratives and quality visuals. The mapping technology and a digital publication platform offer an accessible, practical, and inexpensive IT solution for more inclusive management and branding of World Heritage cities. The approach overcomes the disconnection that often occurs between residents and managers of World Heritage. The winning submission proposed a bottom-up community-led process for residents of the old city of Ahmedabad to gain agency in the presentation, interpretation, and preservation of the heritage site in which they live and work. It proposed acknowledging the context’s diversity and finding common ground among different genders, economic and religious groups. Also, it provided a platform for residents to advocate their ‘story’ of place and ideas for the future.

Stay tuned and follow all the results of the 2021 debate on the Transformational Impacts of Information Technology webpage!

We aim to post as many #2021debate events as possible on our YouTube channel. We thank all speakers, coordinators, conveners and collaborators for their generous contributions and the incredibly insightful webinars that have been featured so far! All sessions´ recordings of #2021debate New Heritage Approaches are now available on YouTube or here.

In the framework of the activities developed by the #2021debate Disasters and Pandemics, the Convener Institution Centro de Patrimonio UC (Heritage Centre) and the UC Master in Cultural Heritage, together with the Master in Sustainable Architectural Rehabilitation of the Federico Santa María University, will be developing a professional course on World Heritage Sites in Chile. You can follow the public Keynote Lecture given by Francesco Bandarin, keep an eye out the website.

We would much appreciate it if you would share this newsletter and our Social Media Channels with your local network, and in doing so, support our Global Outreach Team!

The OurWorldHeritage initiative is focussed on reaching out to people and communities all over the world. We maintain Social Media channels in 10 languages to connect, engage and exchange with local communities. You can also follow news on the relevant events in your language. Willing to add a voice in a new language? Do not hesitate to contact us, and we will assist you. 

Twitter – Instagram – Facebook يمكنكم متابعة حسابنا باللغة العربية 

You can join our network through filling out this online form. If you have ideas that go beyond the options presented in the form, you can always send us an email.