The 5th World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum to be hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

• The Forum will be held in hybrid format, with an online component in June and July followed by an in-person component in Riyadh in September 2023.
• World Heritage site managers from all over the globe are invited to participate in discussions about a range of topics aimed at enhancing the resilience of the sector.

Riyadh – The Saudi Ministry of Culture represented by the Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture and Science and the Heritage Commission, alongside the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership Program are jointly organizing the fifth edition of the World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum, in partnership with ICOMOS.  This event is held in conjunction to the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee.

Taking place under the theme “Managing World Heritage for the Next 50 Years,” the Forum will be held in a hybrid format, with an online component consisting of three sessions taking place between June and July 2023, and an in-person event in Riyadh from 10-16 September 2023. The Forum aims to bring together World Heritage site managers from across the world to participate in compelling discussions that will empower them, as well as help them expand their networks and gain knowledge and insight at an international level. 

The Forum offers an opportunity to review the achievements of the past 50 years while examining some of the growing challenges that site managers will need to address in the coming years. In alignment with the Forum’s objectives, discussions will tackle a range of topics including understanding the achievements and challenges of the World Heritage Convention, enhancing resilience and sustainability, risk management, climate change, and digital technologies for monitoring and protecting UNESCO World Heritage sites.  

The event is open for World Heritage site managers from all over the world. Interested participants are invited to submit their applications through the online registration platform at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/whsmf23/ by 7 May 2023.

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