People, Nature, Culture - PNC22 LAC

Photo credit: Felipe Echeverri Velasco

Course for the Latin America and Caribbean Region: People-Centred Approaches to the Conservation of Nature and Culture (PNC LAC 2022)

Organizers

ICCROM, IUCN, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea (CHA) and Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment.

In collaboration with: ICOMOS

About the course

The course on People-Centred Approaches to the Conservation of Nature and Culture – also called the People, Nature, Culture course and hereafter abbreviated to PNC - is a flagship capacity building activity of the World Heritage Leadership Programme (see section below, About the programme).

This course is dedicated to World Heritage site managers/coordinators and heritage practitioners working in the LAC region. The course will be held online in February 2022 and will be delivered in Spanish.

The course provides participants with the knowledge, skills and awareness necessary for working with diverse people and values in managing heritage places, including World Heritage properties.

It also promotes long-term networks for life-long peer learning and enhanced capacity building in the heritage sector. Outcomes of this course, along with other World Heritage Leadership Programme initiatives, will contribute to consolidating people-centred approaches and nature-culture linkages throughout World Heritage processes, as World Heritage has the potential to be a catalyst for improvements to institutional and legal frameworks in many State Parties with positive repercussions for heritage in general.

This course will specifically engage participants from the region of Latin America and the Caribbean and possibly other Spanish-speaking countries. The target audience of this course are:

• heritage practitioners from the cultural and natural heritage sectors and other individuals working at a specific heritage place.
• individuals involved in the conservation and management of cultural and natural heritage. This includes, for example, those working in heritage at a regional or national level, policy-makers and other representatives of institutions, non-governmental organizations, charities, local associations, community groups, researchers, etc.

Concept of the course

Photo credit: Felipe Echeverri Velasco

The PNC course provides an overview of how the management and conservation of heritage places can give them a dynamic and mutually beneficial role in society today and long into the future. This stems from an increasing recognition that heritage places are cared for, used and enjoyed by a wide array of people. Contributions to management, conservation and use of a heritage place come from a variety of sources, including: heritage sector practitioners; policy makers within institutions; and representatives of communities and networks. Thus, working with all of these groups can be essential for ensuring that benefits are gained for society and for the heritage itself. It is important for all relevant players to be aware of different attributes and values that build up the heritage place, and collaborate in using different approaches and methods to identify and protect diverse values holistically. Another objective is to approach natural and cultural heritage conservation as an interrelated and interdependent concept. The course aims to provide support to promote quality management at World Heritage properties and other heritage places through overcoming artificial separation of nature and culture.

Engaging people is still a considerable challenge at many heritage places, while linking nature and culture also has its realistic barriers, with institutional and legal protection systems often being built-up separately. While there is no simple recipe, there are many examples that can be explored to understand the range of possible approaches and to inspire adaptation of approaches elsewhere. There are also a variety of frameworks, tools and methodologies developed which can be utilized to ensure effective management and good governance, and which harness both potential threats and opportunities for increased benefits.

This course aims to bring those involved in heritage management and conservation together to share their experiences and learn from others in order to move practice in the field forward.

World Heritage Leadership courses emphasize the importance of grounding the content on field experience and peer learning through participants ’case studies. Furthermore, participants will have the chance to share their work and experiences as inspiring case studies to be published on the joint ICCROM-IUCN-ICOMOS PANORAMA Nature-Culture Thematic Community.

About the World Heritage Leadership Programme

The World Heritage Leadership is a capacity building programme delivered by IUCN and ICCROM in collaboration with ICOMOS and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and other organizations, and is being developed with the support of the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment and other partners. It focuses on promoting links between people-nature-culture in the management of heritage places and securing heritage a more dynamic role in wider sustainable development.

Online venue and activities

The course will be held entirely online using the online conferencing platform Zoom. The course will take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the month of February 2022.

Sessions will take place from 15:00 to 18:00, Central European Time. Below you can find an overview of the different time zones of this course.

Participation requires a stable internet connection and a computer or other device with access to a microphone and webcam. Sessions will take place on Zoom and materials will be stored and shared on a dedicated Knowledge Management System (i.e. Google Classroom).