Asian Regional Course on People-Nature-Culture 2021

Asian Regional Course on Promoting People-Centred Approaches to Conservation of Nature and Culture (PNC21)

Partners: ICCROM, IUCN, Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment

In collaboration with: ICOMOS, UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Call for participants: do you work with heritage places?

We are seeking 20 participants to take part in an Asian regional course on Promoting People-Centred Approaches to Conservation of Nature and Culture. This online course is open to:

• 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.

Participants should be able to demonstrate their involvement in ongoing activities with diverse communities and entities within the context of management activities at a heritage place with natural and cultural values. Importance will be placed on selecting some participants who deal with World Heritage properties and/or who are active in capacity building initiatives to improve approaches to heritage conservation and management.

Knowledge acquisition and exchange will be promoted through the course format, which is framed as a forum for participants from both the cultural and natural heritage sectors to share their experiences, learn from each other, and from resource persons working with communities and heritage. The course will take place entirely online and will consist of interactive sessions sharing experiences, presentations, approaches and tools, as well as practical exercises based on case studies.
The working language of the course will be English.

Course concept

The People, Nature, Culture course aims at providing 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 adaption of approaches elsewhere. There is 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.

Course in context: The World Heritage Leadership Programme

This course aims to provide participants with the knowledge, skills and awareness necessary for working with diverse people and values in managing heritage places, including World Heritage. 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. 

The World Heritage Leadership Programme is a capacity building programme delivered by IUCN and ICCROM in collaboration with ICOMOS and WHC 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. This course is implemented with the support of the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration.

Online venue and activities

The course will be held entirely online, allowing participants to meet and exchange with other practitioners from around the Asia region and with regional and international specialists.
Participants need to commit to attending the entire course and contribute to all of the online sessions and offline tasks. The course will take place from 16 August to 21 October 2021, with on average two 3-hour session each week and occasionally three 3-hour session per week. Sessions will take place every Tuesdays and Thursdays over 10 weeks.

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).

Participants who successfully complete the entire course will be given a certificate that recognizes the hours of training attended. The participants who engage the most with the course tasks will also have the possibility of being invited to contribute to an ICCROM webinar and/or an in-person Forum that will take place in the Republic of Korea in late 2022.

Course costs and commitment

There is no direct cost for attending this course. However, all other expenses will need to be covered by the participant, for example, access and use of a computer, internet connection, and time.

Applications

Please complete the application process via the ICCROM website.

The application process involves completing the online course application form, uploading your professional curriculum vitae (in English and maximum 3 pages) as well as the official endorsement (allowed formats: pdf doc docx jpg jpeg png tif tiff with a maximum file size of 5 MB).

If you experience any issue with the submission of your application, please contact us at pnc21 (at) iccrom.org.

This is primarily an Asian Regional Course and the online schedule will respect the afternoon time of the Asian time zone. However, a small number of places are reserved for international participants if they are able to commit to the Asian time zone. Therefore, everybody is eligible to apply.