This Forum aims to create a meeting point between site managers and young people representing local communities so they can share collective knowledge and explore areas of common interest in World Heritage conservation and preservation. The event is in line with the Global Strategy identified by the World Heritage Committee, with its emphasis on Communities, Capacity Building and Communication.

The forum will focus onWorld Heritage issues affecting management at the operational level, on sharing collective knowledge and exchanges on initiatives taken to address issues at the sites, and on actions adapted to involve communities and youth. It will include activities such as workshop sessions, debates, roundtables, knowledge cafés, presentations, site visits, networking and dialogue regarding Forum issues.

Site Managers from World Heritage natural and cultural sites and youth leaders of NGOs in the region will participate in the event. Site managers are responsible for the administration of and/or the quality of work on sites on the World Heritage List and are a large group with essential roles in the planning, research, development, marketing and education necessary to the management of World Heritage sites. In the same way, the youth represents a large network of active young people that can be mobilized in order to preserve World Heritage. Youth NGOs have included heritage among their activities and need to better align their actions to the concrete conservation and preservation requirements of World Heritage sites.

The year 2012 celebrates the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention which focuses on World Heritage and sustainable development to illustrate how the participation of local communities can bring about a win-win scenario for those committed to protecting the world's heritage. In this framework, the Forum offers a means to integrate sustainable local community/youth projects into World Heritage concerns and planning.

This Forum is the result of collaboration between UNESCO World Heritage Centre, in cooperation with Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, the NGO Better World and with the support of the Republic of Korea, Netherlands Funds-in-Trust and Panasonic.