UNESCO and ICHHTO jointly organize capacity building workshop on management of cultural heritage sites

Monday 30 October marked the opening of a three-day training workshop on Management of Cultural Heritage Sites in Masouleh, Gilan Province, AVA Diplomatic reports.

The workshop brings together site managers from all over Iran, and particularly from heritage sites registered on the Iran’s World Heritage Tentative List. The Tentative List is an inventory of those cultural and/or natural heritage sites which Iran considers to be of outstanding universal value, and which the country intends to consider for nomination to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The workshop is taking place in the small mountain town of Masouleh, which is registered on Iran’s Tentative List for its unique architecture and lay-out.

During the opening ceremony of the workshop Ms. Esther Kuisch Laroche, Director and Representative of the UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office, said: “In a context of rapidly increasing urban development around many heritage sites, impacts of environmental degradation affecting some of the sites, and a high vulnerability due to seismic risks, it is important that we focus on strengthening the capacities to properly plan and manage sites on the Tentative List.”

The UNESCO Representative also stressed the importance of engaging the community and local stakeholders in decision-making processes and the management of cultural heritage sites.

Dr. Talebian, Deputy Head of the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO), said that the workshop would enable managers to gain more knowledge, which they could use to conduct meetings and workshops in their own sites with the local communities. “This cooperation with UNESCO leads to capacity building for the whole country, increased collaboration between site managers and allows for exchanges of practical knowledge and experience”, he said.

The three-day workshop, facilitated by Mr. Duncan Marshall from Australia, will focus on conservation and management principles and will also include a practical field visit.