Linking Culture and Nature
CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
The School of Landscape Architecture of the Beijing Forestry University (BFU) and the ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership programme announce the “Heritage & Landscape Conservation Conference” that will take place at BFU campus in Beijing, China from 19 to 21 October 2024.
The “Heritage & Landscape Conservation Conference” will bring together researchers from around the world working on heritage places, in particular cultural landscapes and mixed sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, to exchange about common challenges, opportunities and exploring how the collaboration between research institutes, universities, site management teams and practitioners can work together to establish practice-oriented research collaborations to strengthen and improve the management and conservation of these heritage places through nature-culture integrated, place-based and people-centred approaches.
The Conference will showcase collaborative approaches adopted at World Heritage sites and heritage places focusing on how the collaboration between research institutions and heritage management offices to solve management and conservation challenges. The conversation on research-practice collaboration will start from the experiences made by the World Heritage properties that joined the first edition of the World Heritage Leadership’s Heritage Place Lab 2022-2023.
Additionally, there will be a symposium during which researchers, scholars and heritage professionals and managers from around the world will have the chance to share their work and research on heritage management and landscape conservation.
Finally, the conference will offer a space to assess of the global state of the art on heritage and landscape conservation and inform officially the establishment of the Heritage & Landscape Conservation Lab of the BFU School of Landscape Architecture, which has been launched through the collaboration between BFU and ICCROM.
Registration for the Conference is at https://23151.scimeeting.cn
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
On 21 October 2024, the Conference will host a symposium where interested researchers, scholars, site managers and heritage specialists will have the chance to share their work and research through oral or poster presentations.
This session aims to explore and discuss global practices, knowledge and research around landscapes and heritage places in looking at research-practice collaborations established around three key themes:
1. Heritage management and sustainability
Sustainability is a widely used word in the context of heritage and heritage places are often referred to as drivers for sustainable and economic development. Heritage places around the world are facing increased challenges due to natural and human-made hazards as well as development pressures. Under this theme, authors should explore what sustainability and sustainable development and resilience means in relation to specific heritage places focusing on the benefits heritage places and their management can provide to people and communities.
2. Culture and nature linkages for effective heritage and landscape management
The recognition of nature-culture linkages and the adoption of integrated approaches for a more holistic view of heritage management and conservation has improved management systems for heritage and it has highlighted the potential of heritage to deliver social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits to people and communities.
Authors should explore integrated approaches to the management of heritage places showcasing a range of different examples from traditional stewardship to overcoming institutional silos to enhance collaborative and integrated governance arrangements.
3. Innovative heritage communication and dissemination of knowledge on heritage values
Communication plays an important role in the management and conservation of heritage places, from raising awareness on the importance of these places for communities and our planet, to finding innovative ways to engage the youth and wider public, to strengthening support for the heritage sector. Posters should explore ways, e.g., digital solutions, in which communication and dissemination of knowledge about heritage values can enable heritage managers, specialists and researchers enhancing management, conservation and interpretation efforts.
Interested authors are encouraged to submit a short proposal using the proposal template available at 23151.scimeeting.cn/en/web/index/.
The proposal should include an abstract of minimum 300 and maximum 500 words.
Proposals will be evaluated by the Conference Scientific Committee, made of representatives and invited specialists of BFU and the WHL programme and their networks, on the base of the following criteria:
· Relevance of the abstract to the theme of the Conference and the themes of the symposium;
· Originality and innovation of the approach/work presented;
· Solutions or approaches presented in the abstract and potential application to the wider heritage sector;
· Quality of the abstract and relevance of the team in relation to the work presented in the abstract (the abstract should present your original work/research).
The selection process will furthermore ensure a fair representation of regions, cultures, and gender.
The deadline for abstract submission is 15 July 2024. Selected presenters will be informed via email after 15 August 2024, and the communication will also specify whether they have been selected for an oral or poster presentation. Final presentations and posters will be submitted through the conference website.