UNESCO Chair Program on Cultural Heritage and Risk Management: International Training Course on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage 2013 Application deadline: 27 May 2013Applications should be E-mailed in Word or PDF Format to dmuchitc@st.ritsumei.ac.jp by May 20, 2013 (Japan Standard Time). 1. Theme of 2013 International Training Course Reducing Disaster Risks through Mitigation The year's training programme will ...

This Master imparts the necessary competencies and skills in the conservation and promotion of World Heritage Sites as well as in the conceptualization of sustainable projects in the fields of natural and cultural heritage, creative industries, museums and tourism. The programme is divided into three learning cycles. The first cycle from October to December 2013 consists of distance learning on Cultural Heritage and Economic Development and the World Heritage System and Heritage Management. ...

On 26 and 27 June 2013, an international colloquium on African cultural policies will be held: cooperation, models and strategies at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (École des hautes études en sciences sociales -- EHESS) in Paris, France. This two-day event will be supported by the Labex C.A.P, the Department of European and International Affairs of the General Directorate of Heritage of the French Ministry of ...

On the occasion of the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee, Phnom Pehn, Cambodia,  an information meeting on the 2nd Cycle of the Periodic Reporting Exercise for Europe and North America. The meeting will be an opportunity to update the State Parties from Europe and North America on the progress of the implementation of the Second cycle of the Periodic Reporting,  to exchange information and to discuss priorities and planning for the future. The information ...

On the occasion of the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee, Phnom Pehn, Cambodia,  an information meeting  will be held on the 2nd Cycle of the Periodic Reporting Exercise for Europe and North America. The meeting will be an opportunity to update the State Parties from Europe and North America on the progress of the implementation of the Second cycle of the Periodic Reporting,  to exchange information and to discuss priorities and planning for the ...

In the framework  of the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia, the World Heritage Center  is holding an informal information meeting to present the capacity-building strategy initiative for the Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (CESEE) region.   The Steering Group on the sub-regional capacitybuilding strategy, established during the last Periodic Reporting Workshop for World Heritage National Focal Points from CESEE ...

In the framework  of the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia, the World Heritage Center  in cooperation with the Advisory Body ICCROM is holding an informal information meeting to present the capacity-building strategy initiative for the Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (CESEE) region.   The Steering Group on the sub-regional capacity-building strategy, established during the last Periodic Reporting ...

The monumental complex at Caserta, created by the Bourbon king Charles III in the mid-18th century to rival Versailles and the Royal Palace in Madrid, is exceptional for the way in which it brings together a magnificent palace with its park and gardens, as well as natural woodland, hunting lodges and a silk factory. It is an eloquent expression of the Enlightenment in material form, integrated into, rather than imposed on, its natural setting.

The property includes five aflaj irrigation systems and is representative of some 3,000 such systems still in use in Oman. The origins of this system of irrigation may date back to AD 500, but archaeological evidence suggests that irrigation systems existed in this extremely arid area as early as 2500 BC. Using gravity, water is channelled from underground sources or springs to support agriculture and domestic use. The fair and effective management and sharing of water in villages and towns is still underpinned by mutual dependence and communal values and guided by astronomical observations. Numerous watchtowers built to defend the water systems form part of the site reflecting the historic dependence of communities on the aflaj system. Threatened by falling level of the underground water table, the aflaj represent an exceptionally well-preserved form of land use.

The nine Sacri Monti (Sacred Mountains) of northern Italy are groups of chapels and other architectural features created in the late 16th and 17th centuries and dedicated to different aspects of the Christian faith. In addition to their symbolic spiritual meaning, they are of great beauty by virtue of the skill with which they have been integrated into the surrounding natural landscape of hills, forests and lakes. They also house much important artistic material in the form of wall paintings and statuary.

Construction of this palatine chapel, with its octagonal basilica and cupola, began c. 790–800 under the Emperor Charlemagne. Originally inspired by the churches of the Eastern part of the Holy Roman Empire, it was splendidly enlarged in the Middle Ages.

In the district of Port Louis, lies the 1,640 m2 site where the modern indentured labour diaspora began. In 1834, the British Government selected the island of Mauritius to be the first site for what it called ‘the great experiment’ in the use of ‘free’ labour to replace slaves. Between 1834 and 1920, almost half a million indentured labourers arrived from India at Aapravasi Ghat to work in the sugar plantations of Mauritius, or to be transferred to Reunion Island, Australia, southern and eastern Africa or the Caribbean. The buildings of Aapravasi Ghat are among the earliest explicit manifestations of what was to become a global economic system and one of the greatest migrations in history.

The abbey, together with its monumental entrance, the famous 'Torhall', are rare architectural vestiges of the Carolingian era. The sculptures and paintings from this period are still in remarkably good condition.

Known as the 'Romanesque Sistine Chapel', the Abbey-Church of Saint-Savin contains many beautiful 11th- and 12th-century murals which are still in a remarkable state of preservation.

The church, baptistry, basilicas, public buildings, streets, monasteries, houses and workshops in this early Christian holy city were built over the tomb of the martyr Menas of Alexandria, who died in A.D. 296.

The Acropolis of Athens and its monuments are universal symbols of the classical spirit and civilization and form the greatest architectural and artistic complex bequeathed by Greek Antiquity to the world. In the second half of the fifth century bc, Athens, following the victory against the Persians and the establishment of democracy, took a leading position amongst the other city-states of the ancient world. In the age that followed, as thought and art flourished, an exceptional group of artists put into effect the ambitious plans of Athenian statesman Pericles and, under the inspired guidance of the sculptor Pheidias, transformed the rocky hill into a unique monument of thought and the arts. The most important monuments were built during that time: the Parthenon, built by Ictinus, the Erechtheon, the Propylaea, the monumental entrance to the Acropolis, designed by Mnesicles and the small temple Athena Nike. 

The 34,658 ha site, between the foothills of the Tequila Volcano and the deep valley of the Rio Grande River, is part of an expansive landscape of blue agave, shaped by the culture of the plant used since the 16th century to produce tequila spirit and for at least 2,000 years to make fermented drinks and cloth. Within the landscape are working distilleries reflecting the growth in the international consumption of tequila in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, the agave culture is seen as part of national identity. The area encloses a living, working landscape of blue agave fields and the urban settlements of Tequila, Arenal, and Amatitan with large distilleries where the agave ‘pineapple' is fermented and distilled. The property is also a testimony to the Teuchitlan cultures which shaped the Tequila area from AD 200-900, notably through the creation of terraces for agriculture, housing, temples, ceremonial mounds and ball courts.

Near the gardens of the Taj Mahal stands the important 16th-century Mughal monument known as the Red Fort of Agra. This powerful fortress of red sandstone encompasses, within its 2.5-km-long enclosure walls, the imperial city of the Mughal rulers. It comprises many fairy-tale palaces, such as the Jahangir Palace and the Khas Mahal, built by Shah Jahan; audience halls, such as the Diwan-i-Khas; and two very beautiful mosques.

The southern part of the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea is dominated by a vast limestone plateau. Human beings have lived here for some five thousand years and adapted their way of life to the physical constraints of the island. As a consequence, the landscape is unique, with abundant evidence of continuous human settlement from prehistoric times to the present day.

This is the largest protected area in Africa, covering some 7.7 million ha, though the area considered a protected sanctuary constitutes only one-sixth of the total area. It includes the volcanic rock mass of the Aïr, a small Sahelian pocket, isolated as regards its climate and flora and fauna, and situated in the Saharan desert of Ténéré. The reserves boast an outstanding variety of landscapes, plant species and wild animals.