Launching of the network between professional media and experts in culture field

The working group is expected to function as a local network between key stakeholders in culture and heritage including researchers in various fields of culture, site managers and media professionals. The main objective of the network is to raise awareness and build national capacity though enhanced understandings and updates of the ongoing discourses on international and national legal frameworks on cultural heritage.

The roundtable on new approaches in heritage management on 16 January was the first in a series of events planned by the group in 2018 to bring the front-liners together to network and encourage in-depth technical discussions around various topics in the field of heritage conservation and management. UNESCO Ha Noi and the Fund for Cultural Heritage Conservation will act as the secretariat for the working group.

Main participants to the roundtable were site managers from five World Heritage sites in Viet Nam including Trang An Landscape Complex, Ha Long Bay, Citadel of the Ho Dynasty, Complex of Hue Monuments, Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long; leading national and international researchers in archaeology, heritage conservation and right-based approaches in heritage management as well as relevant media professionals in Ha Noi.

Speaking at the opening of the event, Mr. Michael Croft, Representative and Head of UNESCO Ha Noi Office referred to the success story of the American media figure Oprah Winfrey, encouraged journalists to break down the academic terms and complex issues of the culture fields to the wider public by making the topics more friendly and relevant to every member of the societies.

The roundtable which was co-facilitated by Prof. Dang Van Bai, Director of the Fund for Cultural Heritage and Ms. Pham Huong, UNESCO Culture Specialist, discussed heritage conservation from material-based, value-based approaches to new practices in working with living heritage in urban settings which are reflected in the Policy on the integration of a sustainable development perspective into the processes of the World Heritage Convention and the Hoi An 2017 Declaration on conservation and development in urban heritage districts in Asia.

The research team from Lucern University and Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences, represented by Dr. Peter Bille Larsen, Dr. Nguyen Linh Giang and Researcher Nghiem Kim Hoa, followed to launch its newly published book on World Heritage and Human Rights with case studies around the world including Viet Nam. The discussion raised important questions on how to better engage local community in World Heritage management and enhance the contributions from World Heritage to the national sustainable development.

It was agreed among all members of the working group that further discussions would be facilitated every quarter on selected topics such as heritage interpretation, community-based tourism, and heritage and sustainable development, etc.

For further information, please contact: Ms. Tran Thi Thu Thuy, Culture Programme Officer, tt.thuy@unesco.org.