| News | 2025WHV - Ripple Action: Youth Innovation Camp in Lijiang |
| PublishDate：2025-12-02 Hits：9 |
 On the morning of 27 November, the 2025 UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Project – “Ripple Action: Lijiang World Heritage Study Tour Activity” officially opened in the conference hall of the Lijiang Ancient Town Conservation and Management Bureau. This session of the program is co-organized by the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO Shanghai (WHITR-AP Shanghai), the Lijiang Ancient Town Conservation and Management Bureau, the Beautiful Nostalgia Public Welfare Team, and Lijiang Teachers College, with support from Dayan Central School of Gucheng District, Lijiang City, the 6th Party Branch of the Faculty of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, and the Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute Co., Ltd.
The World Heritage Volunteers Initiative (WHV Initiative) is a global campaign launched in 2008 by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. It aims to mobilize and encourage young people, organizations, institutions, and communities to engage in the protection and promotion of World Heritage through volunteer action. Since its inception, the initiative has carried out 737 action camps across 230 World Heritage sites in 84 countries, attracting the participation of over 10,000 volunteers.
The project “Ripple Action: Lijiang World Heritage Study Tour Activity” jointly proposed by WHITR-AP Shanghai and the Beautiful Nostalgia Public Welfare Team, has been successfully selected for the UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers 2025 Campaign. The theme of this year’s campaign is “Working on the Future”, with 89 projects from 41 countries chosen globally, including 9 projects from China.
 This Youth Innovation Camp continues the Ripple Action model of “Research – Creation – Practice – Presentation”, adopting the theme “Heritage Homeland · Stories of People”. It empowers young participants to conduct in-depth field studies of the cultural courtyards and characteristic spaces of Lijiang Ancient Town, uncovering and sharing the stories of those who safeguard its cultural heritage. After a rigorous selection process, 15 outstanding volunteers were chosen. Under the guidance of 4 professional mentors, they will jointly produce the following outcomes:
Create a youth-perspective cultural booklet “Lijiang Ancient Town: Local Chronicles of Its People”, and curate a cultural exhibition, which will be open to the public on December 4, in celebration of Lijiang World Heritage Day.
Deliver an engaging heritage education class at Dayan Central Primary School and Fang Guoyu Primary School, inspiring local children and planting the seeds of heritage protection among the next generation of the ancient town.
Develop a cultural map and a set of communication materials, leveraging youth creativity to respond to the current communication needs of Lijiang’s cultural courtyards.
These activities are not merely tasks - they offer volunteers immersive learning opportunities to deepen their understanding of World Heritage, embody their responsibility as young changemakers, and foster a collaborative process that sparks the ripple effect of cultural transmission and innovative storytelling.
The outcomes of this Innovation Camp will be submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers Initiative as a case study, contributing practical, youth-centered insights to global heritage conservation efforts. Through the communication platforms of WHITR-AP, Beautiful Nostalgia, and local media, the program will further amplify its influence, encouraging sustained engagement from young people and stakeholders in heritage protection and promotion. In doing so, it supports the sustainable development of the heritage site and enables the public to better understand Lijiang Ancient Town through the eyes of its residents and youth.
 Cui Jiaying, Co-founder of the Beautiful Nostalgia Public Welfare Team, presided over the opening ceremony
 Youth volunteers from Lijiang Teachers College performed the “Naxi Trilogy” traditional dance
The opening ceremony was hosted by Cui Jiaying, co-founder of the Beautiful Nostalgia Public Welfare Team and PhD candidate in Urban and Rural Planning at Tongji University. The event began with a vibrant performance of the “Naxi Trilogy” dance by youth volunteers from Lijiang Teachers College. The performance not only expressed a warm welcome but also allowed guests from afar to experience the profound cultural heritage and unique artistic charm of Lijiang.
 Professor Shao Yong, Director of WHITR-AP Shanghai, delivered speech
Professor Shao Yong, Director of WHITR-AP Shanghai and professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, delivered an online address. She emphasized that youth are the driving force of heritage conservation and innovation, encouraging volunteers to deepen their understanding of heritage values through field research and curriculum design. She expressed hope that the camp would serve as a starting point for participants’ long - term engagement with heritage protection, inspiring them to pass on this strength to more people and more places in the future.
 He Yaochun, Deputy Director of the Lijiang Ancient Town World Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management Bureau, delivered speech
He Yaochun, Deputy Director of the Lijiang Ancient Town Conservation and Management Bureau, noted that young people are among the most dynamic and creative groups in society - the builders and guides of the future. Their thirst for knowledge, sense of responsibility, and passion for action are the most vibrant forces in safeguarding cultural heritage. He expressed four expectations for the volunteers: to become humble learners, active communicators, steadfast guardians, and innovative promoters, using knowledge and action to protect humanity’s shared spiritual home.
 Li Jihong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Tourism and Economic Management at Lijiang Teachers College, delivered speech
Li Jihong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Tourism and Economic Management at Lijiang Teachers College, highlighted that the college has long integrated heritage conservation into its educational mission. She expressed hope that the volunteers would become in-depth learners of Lijiang’s culture, proactive actors in heritage protection, and youthful ambassadors of cultural communication.
 Ding Qian, Vice Principal of Dayan Central Primary School in Lijiang’s Gucheng District, delivered speech
Representing the co-organizer, Ding Qian, Vice Principal of Dayan Central Primary School in Lijiang’s Gucheng District, shared the school’s experience in integrating intangible cultural heritage into classroom teaching. She expressed the hope that, with the support of the Youth Innovation Camp, students’ cultural horizons would be further broadened and their sense of identity with ethnic culture deepened.
 Li Linxia, a representative inheritor of Lijiang Ancient Town’s intangible cultural heritage and manager of Xihe Naxi Home, delivered speech
Li Linxia, the Intangible cultural heritage inheritor and Host of Xihe Naxi Home, shared her journey in preserving and revitalizing the Naxi traditional wedding custom known as the “Dongba Wedding”. Her story demonstrated the many possibilities for integrating intangible heritage into contemporary life.
 Li Junxing, a guardian representative of Lijiang Ancient Town and Director of the Hengyu Gongminju Museum, delivered speech
Li Junxing, Director of the Hengyu Gongminju Museum and representative guardian of Lijiang Ancient Town, delivered an emotional account of his family’s old residence, which has become a “living museum”. He emphasized the tangible and experiential nature of heritage and invited volunteers to visit and personally experience the living memories of “homesickness”.
 The four mentors jointly inaugurated the Innovation Camp
The four mentors of this Lijiang Innovation Camp - Liu Zhen, Program Specialist of WHITR-AP Shanghai; Shi Shouzeng, Director of the Heritage and Culture Research Institute of the Lijiang Ancient Town Conservation and Management Bureau; Cui Jiaying, Co-founder of the Beautiful Nostalgia Public Welfare Team; and Li Jihong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee at Lijiang Teachers College - received the camp flag from the volunteers, symbolizing both trust and responsibility.
 Group photo of the opening ceremony
During the second half of the event, the empowerment training session featured two insightful “Heritage Lectures” delivered by Professor Shao Yong and Director Shi Shouzeng - “Protection and Development of World Heritage Cities” and “Protection of World Heritage Values and Tourism Development in Lijiang Ancient Town”.
 Professor Shao Yong shared on “Protection and Development of World Heritage Cities”
Director Shi Shouzeng shared on “Protection of World Heritage Values and Tourism Development in Lijiang Ancient Town”
Youth volunteers and guests listened attentively to the lectures
Finally, two youth representatives - Peng Zhen, Master’s student in Urban and Rural Planning at Tongji University, and Zou Ruiqi, undergraduate student at the School of Tourism and Economic Management of Lijiang Teachers College - took the stage to read the volunteers’ jointly drafted “Vision for Action” and “Camp Rules”. These statements served as a solemn commitment made by the youth to the conservation of the Old Town of Lijiang.
Peng Zhen read aloud the Vision for Action
Zou Ruiqi read aloud the Camp Rules
Contributed by Liu Zhen
Photo by the Lijiang Ancient Town Conservation and Management Bureau
Edited by Liu Zhen
Reviewed by Shao Yong
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