Every year on 18 April, ICOMOS celebrates the “International Day for Monuments and Sites”, whose establishment was approved by the 22nd UNESCO General Conference in 1983. The theme for 2012 is World Heritage in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention.

The aim of the International Day for Monuments and Sites is to encourage local communities and individuals throughout the world to consider the importance of cultural heritage to their lives, identities and communities, and to promote awareness of its diversity and vulnerability and the efforts required to protect and conserve it.

18 April is celebrated all over the world by a wide range of organisations and many ICOMOS National and International Scientific Committees. Events include scientific conferences and symposia, exhibitions, photography competitions, excursions, press conferences, the awarding of prizes, releasing press releases, publishing magazine articles and projecting films, among others.

For more information:

http://www.icomos.org/en/what-we-do/focus/18-april-international-day-for-monuments-and-sites

http://www.international.icomos.org/publications/e-news/2012/E-news_76_18_avril_22_03_2012.pdf