HENB Director at the UNESCO World Heritage Young Professionals Forum

32 Young Professionals at the UNESCO World Heritage Young Professionals Forum, Fuzhou, China/Online, 2021 © Ella Békési

This past week our co-director, Ella Békési had the opportunity to attend the UNESCO World Heritage Young Professionals Forum and meet amazing like-minded young people who are just as passionate about culture and heritage as we are!

This year, the event was hosted in Fuzhou, China, and Online under the theme of “World Heritage and Sustainable Livelihoods”.

What is the UNESCO World Heritage Young Professionals Forum?

“The World Heritage Young Professionals Forum aims to bring together 32 young professionals from fields related to World Heritage to facilitate mutual learning and exchanges on topics related to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and its implementation, including heritage conservation, and sustainable community livelihood, in greater depth.” – UNESCO

The event is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme and an integral part of the extended World Heritage Committee sessions every year.

What does it mean for you?

Participants have the chance to discuss some of the biggest issues in cultural heritage protection and to draft an outcome document. The outcome document we drafted this year is titled “Youth Voices on World Heritage and Sustainable Livelihoods”. It will be presented at the extended 44th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and will be taken into account looking forward. This means that your voices will be heard through our group of young professionals.

A huge thank you to the entire organising committee for making the event possible and making sure that our opinions and voices are heard. This was an amazing educational and networking opportunity that we are grateful for!

UPDATE (22 July, 2021)

The declaration of our team of young heritage professionals titled "Youth Voices on World Heritage and Sustainable Livelihoods" is now available to download in English and French here –› https://whc.unesco.org/en/whypf2021/

Ella Békési at the UNESCO World Heritage Young Professionals Forum, Fuzhou, China/Online, 2021 © Ella Békési

Closing Remarks by Mr. Ernesto Ottone, Assistant Director-General for Culture, UNESCO - UNESCO World Heritage Young Professionals Forum, Fuzhou, China/Online, 2021 © Ella Békési