Story | 11 Apr, 2013

A training bridge between nature and culture

Ninety-one professionals from 57 countries to date have received training through seven regional workshops aimed at enhancing international and regional capacity building for World Heritage. Over the past three years, the workshops have helped fulfil a recurrent request from State Parties to diversify and ensure regional balance within the technical networks of the advisory bodies supporting the identification, evaluation and conservation of sites.

Photo: Célia Zwahlen

The advisory bodies include IUCN, ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property), and ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites). The training project is the first fully co-managed project among the advisory bodies, and helps bridge the divide between culture and nature for more effective application of the World Heritage Convention and to promote stronger collaboration.

Participants have been able to exchange a range of expertise on cultural and natural heritage through an integrated approach, generating a collective sense of belonging among a network of professionals independent of particular disciplines.

The training was made possible thanks to the generous contribution by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).