Who's Who

Prof/Dr. Roland LIN Chih-Hung (林志宏), a Sino-French city planner and art historian, is currently Programme Specialist of the Asia-Pacific Unit of the World Heritage Centre at  UNESCO Headquarters in France. Within the World Heritage Centre, besides following closely the conservation of World Heritage Cultural Landscapes, together with the Director of the World Heritage Centre, he coordinates UNESCO cultural heritage safeguarding projects in Central  and South Asia, notably the Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nominations; Bamiyan Valley preservation project in Afghanistan and Lumbini, birthplace of the Lord Buddha preservation project in Nepal. He also manages World Heritage issues in India, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, as well as five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). Born in Taiwan, but living and working in Paris, France since 1991, Prof/Dr. Lin received his PhD in Art History and Archaeology from Paris-Sorbonne University in 1998, in addition to previous diplomas in City Planning and Oriental Metropolis Studies, as well as Gardens, Landscape and Territorial Studies.

In addition to his duties at UNESCO, Prof/Dr. LIN holds Visiting Professorships in China (Tianjin University, Tongji University and China South University of Technology) and contributes his expertise as Research Fellow and Chargé des conférences in France (Sorbonne University/CREOPS- Centre de Recherche sur Extrême-Orient de Paris – Sorbonne; École Pratique des Hautes Études/EPHE;  CNRS – UMR 7041 « ArScAn », Archéologie de l’Asie centrale and UMR3329AUSser (Architecture Urbanisme Société : Savoirs Enseignement Recherche) /IPRAUS (Institut Parisien de Recherche : Architecture, Urbanistique, Sociétés), Ecole nationale supérieure d’architecture Paris Belleville). He previously contributed as an expert and advisor to the sustainable urban development of the World Heritage property “Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu” (China), in close collaboration with Rennes (France) and Santiago de Compostela (Spain, also a World Heritage property), through the European Commission’s Asia Urbs Programme.

Prof/Dr. Lin has published four academic works in French and Chinese : The Intention of Landscape Representation: from the Case of Qianlong Jade Mountain (Rêve de jade ; les jades paysagers de l'ère Qianlong) was published in French in 2005 by Paris-Sorbonne University Press. Historic cities and World Heritage (世界遺產與歷史城市) was published in Chinese in 2010 by Taiwan Commercial Publishing House. World Heritage and Historical Cities in the Perspective of Cultural Diversity (世界文化遗产与城市) was published in Chinese in 2013; and Qufu, Birthplace of Confucius - Towards a Sustainable City (孔子故里曲阜 - 迈向可持续发展) in Chinese, English and French in 2018 by Tongji University Press (Shanghai, China). He has also published and co-authored over 80 specialized papers on the need for safeguarding world and cultural heritage and cultural landscapes in Asia.