PRESS RELEASE
First Joint PNC–ITUC International Training Course to be held at Cinque Terre National Park, part of the UNESCO World Heritage property “Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto).”
Cinque Terre, Italy | 11 March 2026, For the first time, the internationally recognized Managing World Heritage: People Nature Culture (PNC) course and the Integrated Territorial & Urban Conservation (ITUC) course are being brought together in a single, international training programme.
The new course, PNC ITUC 2026: Integrating World Heritage Management into Wider Urban and Territorial Planning, will take place from 11 to 18 March 2026 at Cinque Terre National Park in northern Italy, part of the UNESCO World Heritage property “Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto).”
This first joint edition combines the strengths of PNC and ITUC, two leading capacity-building initiatives of ICCROM. The course builds on their strong legacy to address a critical challenge facing heritage worldwide: how to ensure World Heritage management is fully integrated into urban and territorial planning systems, recognized in policy, and embedded in decision-making processes.
Implemented by ICCROM, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Cinque Terre National Park, the course is delivered through ICCROM–IUCN World Heritage Leadership Programme, and draws on ICCROM's global leadership in capacity-building for Sustainable Urban and Built Heritage Conservation, Disaster and Climate Risk Management, and Post-Crisis Recovery.
A Strategic connection Between Heritage and Planning
Heritage places are not isolated sites – they are an integral part of living territories embedded within dynamic social, environmental and economic systems shaped by people and subject to continuous change. At the same time, increasing development pressures, climate risks and urban transformation has highlighted the need to ensure that heritage is adequately integrated in wider planning frameworks that guide territorial development and governance.
PNC ITUC 2026 directly responds to this gap. The course equips heritage and planning professionals with the knowledge, skills and awareness to:
- Integrate World Heritage management into urban and territorial planning systems
- Engage effectively with planners, policy processes and governance frameworks
- Strengthen heritage conservation while activating its social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits for communities
By combining the People–Nature–Culture (PNC) approach with Integrated Territorial & Urban Conservation (ITUC) principles, the course promotes a heritage place approach that enables practitioners to conserve and enhance the multiple heritage values within broader territorial, environmental, economic, and cultural contexts.
A World Heritage Site as a Living Classroom
Hosting the course at Cinque Terre National Park offers participants an opportunity to work directly within a complex and dynamic heritage place facing real-world environmental and development pressures, while also learning from the concrete solutions the Park has implemented and is actively testing to address these challenges and long-term resilience.
As part of the World Heritage site of “Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto),” the site provides a powerful case study for applied learning. Participants will engage in applied exercises focused on:
- Understanding the principles and foundations of planning and the planning framework at national, regional and local levels
- Disaster risk management
- Impact assessment
- Addressing development pressures in planning and decision-making
The site’s layered cultural landscapes, terraced vineyards, coastal settlements and environmental vulnerabilities provide an ideal setting to explore how heritage conservation can be recognized in policy, embedded in governance systems, and integrated into territorial planning frameworks.
An International and Interdisciplinary Learning Environment
The course brings together site managers, heritage practitioners, planners, representatives of heritage institutions and professionals involved in World Heritage management from 17 countries around the world, fostering cross-sector dialogue and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Through peer learning, applied exercises and collaborative analysis, participants will gain practical tools to ensure heritage values are understood and recognized in policy, integrated in development strategies, and reflected in planning instruments and regulatory frameworks.
PNC ITUC 2026 marks a significant step forward in heritage capacity-building, uniting two flagship programmes and grounding learning within a World Heritage site to strengthen the integration of heritage conservation into urban and territorial development for the long-term benefit of people and communities worldwide.