7th Annual Coordination Meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage-Related Category 2 Centres and Institutes
Annual coordination meetings of UNESCO World Heritage-Related Category 2 Centres and Institutes (UNESCO C2Cs) allow for the sharing and exchange of expertise and development of synergies between Category 2 Centres. The implementation of these meetings follows the Resolution 17 GA 9 (UNESCO, 2009) of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention that requested the organisation of the first meeting and subsequently, it was highly recommended by the UNESCO C2Cs to continue having these annual gatherings. In fact, these meetings established a privileged platform of interaction and exchange with the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre (WHC) on themes aligned with Decisions of the World Heritage Committee, such as the World Heritage Capacity Building Strategy and Resolutions approved by the General Assembly.
The 7th Annual Coordination Meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage-Related Category 2 Centres and Institutes was held between 22 and 23 April 2019 in Manama, Bahrain. The Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH) hosted the meeting on its premises. The meeting was attended by the World Heritage Centre, ICCROM and ICOMOS, Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA), as well as the following UNESCO C2Cs:
– African World Heritage Fund (AWHF)
– Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH)
– International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage (HIST)
– World Heritage Institute of Training and Research-Asia and Pacific (WHITRAP)
– Regional World Heritage Institute in Zacatecas (RWHIZ)
– World Natural Heritage Management and Training for Asia and the Pacific Region’ – Wildlife Institute of India
– Regional Heritage Management Training Centre ‘Lucio Costa’
– International Centre for Rock Art and World Heritage Convention
This year’s meeting focused on several topics related to enhancing the implementation of the World Heritage Convention by strengthening the collaboration between UNESCO C2Cs, and creating more synergies with Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre. It also addressed the role of UNESCO C2Cs and their collaboration in the field of the World Heritage Convention as key partners for the protection, promotion and conservation of cultural and natural World Heritage sites.
