Li Hong is giving the lecture.

On February 27th, 2018, Li Hong, Programme Specialist of WHITRAP, was invited to give a lecture to the students of the International Organisation Talent Cultivation Programme, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE). The lecture aimed to promote knowledge of World Heritage among students, and encourage exchanges and collaboration between international organisations and talents in Chinese colleges and universities. Three topics were covered – ‘World Heritage and Its Outstanding Universal Value’, ‘Projects and Activities of WHITRAP’, and ‘Internship Programmes of Related International Organisations’.

Basic knowledge of World Heritage and its conservation were introduced, including main international organisations related to World Heritage, and their timelines for nomination and evaluation process. Ms. Li presented the concept of World Heritage through Chinese and International examples, such as the World Heritage categories, the ten selection criteria for Outstanding Universal Value, attributes, integrity and authenticity, conservation and management system. Moreover, the ideas of protection and conservation were emphasized for the inscription of World Heritage properties.

Ms Li presented WHITRAP’s role as a non-profit organisation specialised in the area of heritage conservation and capacity building. WHITRAP was the first Category 2 Institute under the auspices of UNESCO established in the developing countries. The Institute’s mission is to strengthen the implementation of World Heritage Convention in the Asia and Pacific region, by building the capacity of professionals and bodies involved with World Heritage site inscription, protection, conservation and management through training, research, the dissemination of information and network building. The lecture also introduced WHITRAP’s national and international activities involving heritage conservation, and the Institute training priority programmes: World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism (WH + ST), Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA), and Management Planning.

Finally, to meet the demand of the students, Ms. Li advised on the procedures for internship application processes based on UNESCO-related organisations and WHITRAP’s programme requirements.