WHITRAP Shanghai holds the 2020 HeritAP Webinar “Impact of COVID-19 on World Cultural Heritage Sites and Moving Forward” on 19-20 November 2020
The World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for Asia and the Pacific Region (WHITRAP) is a Category 2 Institute established under the auspices of UNESCO. The Institute's mission is to strengthen the implementation of the World Heritage Convention in Asia and the Pacific Region, by building the capacity of all involved with World Heritage site inscription, protection, conservation and management, through training, research, the dissemination of information and network building. Networking is explicitly mentioned in the mandate of WHITRAP, in recognition of the important role that it plays in enabling the institute to achieve its objectives, as well as the benefits it brings to the heritage sector more broadly.

With this objective in mind, WHITRAP Shanghai initiated HERITAGE Asia-Pacific (heritAP) in 2019, a network that aims to foster the sharing of knowledge and experiences among individuals and institutions in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Since the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has been having a detrimental effect on every aspect of human life, leading not only to an economic recession and social turmoil but also to cultural stagnation. Considering that, in response to the pandemic crisis, the world needs to develop new requirements for the sustainability and resilience of World Heritage properties, WHITRAP Shanghai intends to reflect on the impact of the pandemic on World Heritage, to seek ways to adapt to the new situation, and to generate a discussion at the national and international levels.

The 2020 HeritAP Annual Meeting, held online, is titled “Impacts of COVID-19 on World Cultural Heritage Sites and Moving Forward”. WHITRAP invited scholars, staff, experts, national management authorities dealing with World Heritage and representatives of the tourism industry to the symposium. The speakers will share their insights on the following topics: the difficulties encountered during the pandemic situation; management measures taken; positive and negative changes caused by the pandemic; and the resilience and sustainability of heritage sites.

A first session was already held on November 3-5 in Hangzhou, China, with the support of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, and 169 site managers and staff from the cultural World Heritage properties in China participated and exchanged their experiences. The second session targets Asian countries to continue discussing and sharing their perspectives on the above topic. The symposium is supported by the World Heritage Centre, ICCROM, WHITRAP friends and HeritAP members.

If you are interested in viewing the online meeting, and to facilitate the smooth running of the event, please register through the following link: https://www.wjx.cn/jq/97351057.aspx. The organisers will then share the Zoom room and schedule with you by email.