WHV – Rebuilding of the Chan Chan Archaeological Zone, PERU (15/07/2011) © UNESCO/CCIVS/BVBP

World Heritage Volunteers 2011 Results

From Armenia to Zambia, from Germany to Peru, and from Indonesia to Togo, World Heritage Volunteers worked hard at sites around the world in 2011.

World Heritage and Diversity

Organizing 28 projects in 17 different countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe, youth volunteers from all over the world gathered at World Heritage sites to meet people from different cultures, exchange experiences, and share a common goal: raise awareness of the outstanding value of our heritage and the need to preserve it.

Launched in 2008, the World Heritage Volunteers project aims at promoting youth commitment in World Heritage promotion and protection through non-formal education. The initiative is jointly coordinated by the World Heritage Centre and CCIVS (Co-ordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service).

In 2011, it allowed more than 400 youth volunteers to work together for 2 or 3 weeks in World Heritage cultural, natural or mixed sites and take up actions such as archaeological restoration under professionals' supervision (traditional wall construction, cobblestones carving and laying), environmental protection (site cleaning, tree planting), education campaigns (school workshops, local trainings and contests), or mass awareness-raising (conferences, live performances, brochure distribution, newspaper and TV advertisements). Participating volunteers contributed to fostering peace and inter-cultural dialogue and learned concrete heritage preservation techniques, thereby strengthening their consciousness of World Heritage. With the growing support of several youth organisations, communities and local and international authorities, the 2011 campaign benefited from increased media coverage, which paves the way for the 2012 special 40th anniversary WHV to be held at 40 World Heritage sites.