Wednesday, 11 February 2026

Applications are now open for Indigenous Peoples’ representatives to apply for grants from the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples (UNVFIP) to participate in the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee. These grants aim to ensure the meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples in the work of the World Heritage Convention and to support their active engagement in ...

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Friday, 6 February 2026

The ‘World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific’ (WHITR-AP, China) has opened its 2026 Call for Good Practices under the project ‘World Heritage Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals’ (2023–2028).Launched in 2023, the project aims to support the implementation of ‘UNESCO’s Policy Document on Integrating a Sustainable Development Perspective into ...

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Monday, 2 February 2026

Celebrated each year on 2 February, World Wetlands Day highlights in 2026 the theme “Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage”, underscoring the deep and enduring connections between wetlands, people and culture.Wetlands have long been places of human settlement, spirituality, craftsmanship and food production, shaped and safeguarded through generations of knowledge ...

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Friday, 30 January 2026

Andrea Bruno, a master of contemporary restoration and long-standing collaborator of UNESCO, passed away on 6 July 2025, as the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee was opening its proceedings. Through his work on such World Heritage sites as the Minaret of Jam, the Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley, the monuments of Herat in Afghanistan, Bagrati ...

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Friday, 30 January 2026

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre honors the memory of Frank Matero, the Gonick Family Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design. Prof. Frank Matero, made an enduring contribution to the theory, practice, and teaching of architectural and heritage conservation worldwide.Over more than three decades, he played a pivotal role in advancing the conservation ...

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Monday, 19 January 2026

UNESCO has launched “Your Heritage, Your Story”, a new podcast series that brings World Heritage sites of Latin America and the Caribbean to life through powerful stories, expert voices and memories.Made possible with the support of the Government of Brazil, the podcast deepens our understanding of World Heritage values and challenges, and inspires the audiences to play a part in protecting ...

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Thursday, 15 January 2026

The Scholarship is aimed for professional artists, cultural practitioners and researchers who want to develop an artistic or research idea that connects the Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland in Sweden to one or more other World Heritage Sites on the UNESCO list.The Scholarship is awarded to the applicant who shows the clearest, most relevant and feasible way how the Decorated Farmhouses ...

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Thursday, 15 January 2026

With UNESCO’s active contribution, cultural and natural heritage have been increasingly recognized as a key dimension of climate adaptation and resilience. This momentum was reinforced at COP30 with the adoption of global indicators to guide action and investment to protect heritage and reinforce local and traditional knowledge, and is being further advanced through people-centred approaches ...

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Saturday, 20 December 2025

UNESCO and its Advisory Bodies, ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN, have launched the first field pilot of the Climate Action Toolkit for World Heritage (CAT) in the West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord, a World Heritage property known for its exceptional natural beauty and striking geological formations shaped by successive glaciations.This work advances the Policy Document on ...

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Thursday, 18 December 2025

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre honors the memory of the Grand Imam of the Djingareyber Mosque in Timbuktu, Abderahamane Ben Essayouti, an eminent spiritual leader who dedicated his life to the management and preservation of the city’s cultural heritage.Throughout his life, he devoted himself to the transmission of knowledge, the preservation of faith, and the safeguarding of Timbuktu’s ...

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Thursday, 11 December 2025

Celebrated on 11 December, International Mountain Day reminds us of the essential role mountains play in sustaining life. This year, the global community highlights the profound importance of glaciers, which nourish ecosystems, support communities and embody cultural identity, even as they face rapid and often irreversible change.Fifty UNESCO World Heritage sites are home to glaciers, ...

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Wednesday, 10 December 2025

UNESCO expresses strong concern over the renewed tensions between Cambodia and Thailand, including in the vicinity of the Preah Vihear Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site. UNESCO calls for urgent protection of the region’s cultural heritage in all its forms.The Organization reminds all parties of their obligations and commitment to respect international law, notably the 1954 Hague ...

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Tuesday, 9 December 2025

After seventeen years of grassroots youth activities and international cooperation, the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Initiative continue to involve young people, communities and site managers in building together new, inclusive societies where World Heritage is a source of resilience, humanity and innovation, beyond the challenges that faces the World. In this context, we are pleased to ...

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Wednesday, 26 November 2025

The World Heritage Committee elected Mr LEE Byong Hyun (Republic of Korea) as Chairperson of its 48th session during its 20th extraordinary session, held on 25 November 2025 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The 48th session will take place in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 19 to 29 July 2026.During this extraordinary session, the Committee also appointed Ms Ashley Jones (Jamaica) as ...

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Monday, 24 November 2025

The 25th General Assembly of the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention is meeting from 24 to 25 November 2025 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, convening the 196 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention.During the session, the General Assembly elected twelve members to the World Heritage Committee:Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Czechia, Grenada, Kuwait, Mongolia, ...

Thursday, 20 November 2025

In the border of the arid beauty of the Namib, Sand, communities from Maltahöhe, Aus and Utuseb gathered around a simple yet powerful idea: that heritage can help build livelihoods and stronger futures.From 17 to 20 November 2025, community members from the three towns met with UNESCO to explore how their heritage, a source of pride for the communities, could also provide a pathway to ...

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Tuesday, 18 November 2025

An international conference titled ‘Samarkand: 3,000 Years of Heritage’ was held on 5 November 2025 in the margins of the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference, bringing together scholars, archaeologists and cultural heritage experts from Uzbekistan and around the world to assess the city’s thousand-year history and global significance.The opening ceremony was held in the presence ...

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Sunday, 16 November 2025

As part of the assistance provided by the UNESCO World Heritage Fund to protect the Ziggurat of Ashur at the World Heritage Site of Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat) in Iraq, a project for emergency conservation works was carried out from 22 October to 16 November 2025. It was implemented in close cooperation with the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) and was led by CRAterre – ...

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Wednesday, 12 November 2025

Quanzhou, China, 25 October 2025 — The UNESCO–Africa–China Symposium on World Heritage Capacity-Building and Cooperation concluded in Quanzhou after a week of exchanges and hands-on training from 19 to 25 October 2025. Co-organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the Fujian Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage and the Quanzhou Municipal People’s Government, with the support of the ...

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Wednesday, 12 November 2025

UNESCO organises two field workshops in Bhutan and Nepal to initiate the management framework of the World Heritage Tentative List sites, with the support of the UNESCO/Republic of Korea Funds-in-Trust project "Support South Asian Heritage Sites Management Initiatives (Bhutan and Nepal)".The project was launched in Bhutan last June 2024, with the first annual workshop for the preparation of ...

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