On 12 July 2025, on the occasion of the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, the UNESCO Chair on Water, Ports and Historic Cities, Port City Futures, in cooperation with the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO, Shanghai Centre (WHITR-AP Shanghai) and the Water Museums Global Network, organized a side event on “The River and the World Heritage Property: Activating the Urban Heritage Atlas” followed by an exploration of the bank of the Seine.  

Openning remarks: Key needs and Challenges

Moderated by Marie-Noël Tournoux, Project Director of WHITR-AP Shanghai, the side event was opened by Jyoti Hosagrahar, Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre, who discussed “Protection of heritage properties and opportunities presented by the HUL Approach, UNESCO Urban Heritage Atlas and the World Heritage Canopy platforms”. She introduced the UNESCO 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), the approach of the Recommendation and its statutory nature, sharing the latest country report on the implementation of HUL. She followed by presenting the issue of the layering of heritage values and characteristics and highlighted the key needs for heritage conservation and decision-making challenges for heritage conservation and management. She continued by presenting tools developed by the World Heritage Center’s Cities Programme such as the World Heritage Canopy and the UNESCO Urban Heritage Atlas that she detailed quite extensively.

Jyoti Hosagrahar delivering opening remarks

Presentations on Heritage and Water

The introduction to the side event’s theme on heritage and water was kicked off by a short video of Prof. Carola Hein on “Water Values the Future of the Seine in Paris, the Iles de France and beyond”, where she addressed negotiating conflicting values for sustainable and inclusive development”.

（From right to left) Prof. Carola Hein, Prof. Shao Yong, Fan Li and Françoise Ged

Her intervention was followed by Prof. Shao Yong, Secretary General of WHITR-AP who focused on The Water Land of Jiangnan Region and the Great Shanghai: Nature and Culture Conservation of International Metropolis with a HUL approach. In her presentation Prof. Shao gave an overview of the Jiangnan region and the evolution of the Shanghai metropolis as well as the application of the HUL approach which allowed to consider heritage at a larger and smaller scale, from buildings to the river to redefining the power or nature in the metropolis.

Prof. Shao Yong, Secretary General WHITR-AP and Jyoti Hosragrahar, Deputy Director World Heritage Centre 

These first interventions were followed by a joint contribution focusing on “The place of nature for preserving cultural heritage: A microscopic approach” by Dr. Sahima Hamlaoui, Muséum d’Histoire Naturel and Dr. Maria Cellamare, Phyto-Quality and Lou Filin, Muséum d’Histoire Naturel, all three Plankton Planet member. They started by providing an overview of life in the Seine, showing the large and micro diversity of the river and what type of ecosystem services were provided to people by the natural environment in the urban context of Paris. They highlighted the challenge of reconciling urban heritage, biodiversity and adaptation to climate change and insisted on how biodiversity conservation and sustainable water management were key elements in ensuring the resilience and sustainability of historic urban landscapes.

Dr. Sahima Hamlaoui, Muséum d’Histoire Naturel and Dr. Maria Cellamare

Zuzana Sliwinska also focused on climate change by addressing “Heritage at the water’s edge: how climate change is reshaping our relationship with heritage". In her presentation she highlighted the growing impact of climate change and heritage further detailed the case of Paris and focusing on transformation. She detailed the three scales of analysis proposed to examine in the on site workshop by the river, the wider setting, the built environment, the intangible dimension.

Dr. Zuzana Sliwinska introducing the workshop

Marie-Noël Tournoux moderating and Prof. Cecile speaking

Rounds of Discussion

Finally, Prof. Hein presented the work done on Paris for the UNESCO Urban Heritage Atlas and the potential of mapping for the protection of heritage properties, with a special focus on mapping for water.

UHC-HEI members taking part in the side event

On the Banks of the Seine

The side event was continued outdoors with a walk towards the river bank and an onsite workshop including a mapping exercise of values at different scales to explore the challenges and opportunities of Paris, Banks of the Seine and collecting water samples in the river and conducting direct observations with a microscope. Participants were divided in three groups, each one focusing on a different scale following the Historic Urban Landscape approach. This outdoor activity was very lively and attracted great attention from the surrounding public.

Masterminded by Prof. Carola Hein, Chair holder of the UNESCO Chair on Water, Ports and Historic Cities, Port City Futures, 2024-2025 research-fellow at the Institut d’Études Avancées (IEA) and Dr. Zuzanna Sliwinska, independent researcher in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair Water, Ports, and Historic Cities, the side event focused water related heritage values from the larger scale to the microscopic scale, exploring urban management, stakeholder engagement and reflecting on the use and function of heritage. 

Group observation

Exploring the river plancton with a microscope

Contributed by Marie-Noël Tournoux