WHITR-AP Shanghai and CAUP Tongji University organized on 2nd and 7th April the 3rd Technical Meeting of the International Network for Urban-rural Heritage Conservation in Higher Education Institutions (UHC-HEI). To address the time zone differences, 2 sessions were organized, one on 2nd April from 18:30 to 20:30 and one on 7th April from 07:30 to 09:30 Beijing time (UTC+8).

The UHC-HEI Network was established in Shanghai, China, on 27 September 2023 at the International Conference on Urban Heritage Conservation and Design for Sustainable Development and International Network for Urban Heritage Conservation in Higher Education Institutions (UHC-HEI) initiated by the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and Pacific Region, Shanghai Centre (WHITR-AP Shanghai) and the College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP), Tongji University. Its principles were set forth in the Shanghai Initiative on Urban Heritage Conservation and Design for Sustainable Development and Roadmap for Urban Heritage Conservation in Higher Education Institutions  adopted by the participants who agreed on the relevance of setting up an international network. The Secretariat of the network is provided by WHITR-AP Shanghai with the support of Tongji University.

The UHC-HEI Network was designed as a platform to strengthen cooperation with and among Universities and Higher Education Institutions that have recognized urban heritage conservation and design for sustainable development as a key subject of their teaching, research, and action plans to bridge the competency gap in the area of heritage conservation but also in the area of urban-rural development design and regeneration approaches, where the dichotomy between conservation and development still prevails.

Since its inception the UHC-HEI Network has built and consolidated the network by organizing two Technical Meetings, promoted exchanges among partners and other institutions, taken part in international expert meetings such as the UNESCO World Conference on Culture and Arts Education in Abu Dhabi (February 2024), the CHARTER Alliance Paris Conference (March 2024), and the side event on Science, Creativity, Empowerment – World Heritage Education Towards the Future held at the 46th Session of the World Heritage Committee in July 2024 in New Delhi, India. It has designed a series of joint activities and is organizing an International Conference on Reshaping Heritage Conservation In Higher Education: What, How, For Whom? which will take place in Shanghai, China, on 25-26 October 2025.

To follow up on the Network’s first two Technical Meetings of 18 March and 26 June 2024, WHITR-AP Shanghai and the College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP), Tongji University, organized the third online technical meeting to update its members on ongoing activities, collect their feedback and allow members to share information on their activities.

UHC-HEI 3rd Technical Meeting

80 participants from 4 regions of the world and 21 countries, and representatives from 3 international organizations, UNESCO’s Education Sector and Culture Sector including the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and IFLA attended the 2 sessions of the online meeting.

The meeting allowed to give an overview of the Network’s activities since June 2024, introduce new partners, provide information on and greet new members and discuss the organization of the forthcoming international conference on Reshaping Heritage Conservation Education In Higher Education: What, How, For Whom? (25-26 October 2025), share views on the network activities, determine its framework and define next steps and a timeline to move forward.

Reshaping Heritage Conservation Education In Higher Education What, How, For Whom

The meeting allowed, furthermore, to update its members on the call for participants for the Yunlong International Workshop 2025.

Yunlong International Workshop 2025

Additionally, the UHC-HEI Network 3rd Technical Meeting was an opportunity for members to share forthcoming publication and conferences as well as information on UNESCO’s programmes and initiatives. UNESCO representatives referred to the Organization’s Education Sector’s Campus Africa or the China  Funds-in-Trust Higher Technical Education in Africa  projects, and to the Culture’s Sector Cultural Policy endeavors such as the Mondiacult follow up meeting in Barcelona in September 2025. The World Heritage Centre’s Africa Unit introduced their initiative on Higher Education and World Heritage in Africa. Furthermore, UNESCO mentioned the long-term work on strengthening links between intangible and tangible heritage as advocated in the Naples conference on Cultural Heritage in the 21st Century conference (Naples, November 2023) . Reference was also made to UNESCO’s Competence Framework for Cultural Heritage Management which links  cultural heritage management and sustainable development. Members also referred to forthcoming conferences such as the CIPA Heritage Documentation  conference in Seoul in August 2025 on digital and data-driven heritage documentation or the third meeting of the Ibero-American of UNESCO Chairs and heritage conservation workshop organized at The Maule University, Chile the last week of October.

UHC-HEI Secretariat Group Photo (Prof. Shao Yong, Marie-Noel Tournoux, Prof. Placido Gonzalez-Martinez, Dr. Zhang Tian)

Contributed by Marie-Noël TOURNOUX and YU Jiayi