In February 2025, a capacity-building course on Impact Assessment for World Heritage was implemented for Malawi and Southern Africa, through a collaboration between UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership Programme and the Government of the Republic of Malawi.
From 10 February to 27 February, the World Heritage Leadership Programme worked closely with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the Government of the Republic of Malawi to implement a capacity-building course at the World Heritage property of Lake Malawi National Park. The initiative aimed to build capacity of heritage professionals in Malawi and from the Southern Africa sub-region to conduct impact assessments. Impact assessment methodology is a critical tool to use for determining the consequences of development projects on heritage places and ensuring their protection and sustainable management
The course was coordinated in close collaboration with the Department of Museums and Monuments, Department of National Parks and Wildlife, and the Malawi National Commission for UNESCO. Participants joined from heritage institutions, planning agencies and local councils, water, road, tourism and environmental assessment authorities from the region, including Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
This capacity-development activity was developed within the framework of Priority Africa and is supported by the Netherlands and Norway through their respective UNESCO funding mechanisms.
The activity consisted of three phases. It began with an online session on World Heritage basics on 10 February 2025. This was followed by an in-person workshop on the methodology of the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, implemented in Lake Malawi National Park, in Mangochi, Malawi. In the final phase, participants worked individually to prepare a scoping report on their own respective sites, which they presented on 27 February 2025 as a final outcome of the learning.
The course offered a space for national reflection on how planning and development frameworks and policies are applied for World Heritage properties in the different countries. Emphasis was made on how best to link impact assessment processes with management systems of World Heritage to strengthen conservation and management of World Heritage and also promote World Heritage-conscious development.