Leggi l'informativa sul trattamento dei dati personali per il servizio di newsletter e dai il tuo consenso informato al trattamento dei tuoi dati per le seguenti finalità

Puoi comunque annullare l'iscrizione in qualsiasi momento facendo clic sul collegamento a piè di pagina delle nostre e-mail.

Usiamo Mailchimp come piattaforma di marketing e newslettering. Leggi la policy per la privacy di Mailchimp.

WHAPS World Heritage in Africa: processes and strategies

Fostering practitioners for World Heritage nominations

WHAPS World Heritage in Africa: processes and strategies is the international initiative promoted by the School of Cultural Heritage and ICCROM to contribute to a greater representation of African cultural heritage in the UNESCO World Heritage List, enhancing the knowledge and application of the Convention for the Protection of the World Heritage and the Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Through a capacity-building and mentoring programme, we foster capacity-building for effective long-lasting heritage management, from the World Heritage List application process to the day-to-day application of UNESCO Conventions and management methodologies.
By cultivating dialogue, reciprocal approaches and exchange on the implementation of the UNESCO Conventions, we promote the development of cultural policies that can transform culture into a social and economic driver for African countries.

background

The Declaration for Culture, unanimously adopted by 150 countries at the end of the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies MONDIACULT 2022 (Mexico City, 2022) outlines an agenda that commits States to ‘a strengthened multilateralism, which recognises culture as a global public good with an intrinsic value to enable and guide sustainable development’.
During the work of the subsequent UNESCO International Conference (Naples, 2023), a key theme that emerged was the imbalance in the World Heritage List, both in the types of properties inscribed and the geographical areas represented. A number of important initiatives have attempted to respond to this issue since 1994, with the World Heritage Global Strategy, including the Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003), aimed at protecting countries whose cultural heritage is not exclusively monumental, and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005), which extends the boundaries of the concept of heritage to manifestations of human creativity as a response of specific communities to universal needs, up to the development of the new inscription procedures for the List (2021).
Taking into account the urgency of pursuing this agenda, the 2023 Conference Declaration, namely The Spirit of Naples, specifies ‘we will support the development of expertise in under-represented Member States to ensure a more representative, balanced and credible World Heritage List, with a particular focus on Africa’.

In this international scenario, and in line with national frameworks, the Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali and ICCROM recognize the need to develop a joint programme to promote the knowledge and appreciation of African cultural heritage through

  • a concrete capacity building and mentoring proposal involving African and Italian professionals, taking into account the significant Italian experience in the UNESCO World Heritage List nomination processes (online mentoring programme)
  • networking, study, exchange and dialogue initiatives in a context of collaboration and mutual learning (an international forum in Zimbabwe and a closing event in Italy).

programma

april-october 2025 , online

capacity building and mentoring

30 professionals, selected through a Call for Application, involved in the preparation of World Heritage nominations and in the management of heritage sites, coming from the Countries of the African continent and Italy, participate, free of charge, for 6 months, in a capacity building and mentoring programme, which includes online plenary sessions and small group activities followed by a dedicated mentor. The programme focuses on processes and strategies for the candidacy, management and impact assessment of World Heritage sites.

Call for application

3-7 March 2025, Masvingo, Zimbawe

international forum

It is a conference in the world café format hosting thematic group discussions and plenary sessions, led by some 60 heritage professionals, representatives of national and international institutions, involved in the management of World Heritage sites.
The event is organised in cooperation with the Great Zimbabwe University.

end of 2025, Roma, Italia

closing workshops

Representatives of national and international institutions and participants in the programme gather to a closing event to share and collect an assessment and evaluation of the entire initiative. The event is also an opportunity to consolidate the network created and plan possible joint activities for the promotion and enhancement of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

attività in diretta