From 8 – 19 October, the Course on Management & Monitoring of World Heritage Sites was held in the Historic Centre of Macao SAR, China. Lasting two weeks, the course provided ten international participants and 13 Chinese participants with theoretical lectures and on-site practice, using the Historic Centre of Macao as a case study. Senior experts from ICCROM, mainland China and Macao gave guidance during the course.
Macao SAR has been a lucrative port of strategic importance in the development of international trade in Chinese territory. The Historic Centre of Macao was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005, and presents a group of 22 principal buildings and public spaces that enable a clear understanding of the structure of the old trading port city. With its historic streets, residential, religious and public Portuguese and Chinese buildings, the Historic Centre of Macao provides a unique testimony to the meeting of aesthetic, cultural, religious, architectural and technological influences from East and West.
The course used these tangible and intangible heritage assets to provide participants with current thinking, trends and approaches to management of cultural World Heritage properties, focusing particularly on monitoring.
The course opening ceremony was attended by Zhu Ye, Associate Counsel of the Foreign Affairs Liaison Division in NCHA and ICCROM Council member; Leong Wai Man, Vice President of Cultural Affairs Bureau, SAR Government, Macao; and Joseph King, Director of ICCROM’s Sites Unit.
On behalf of ICCROM, Joseph King introduced the background, main objectives and contents of this course, stating that ICCROM hopes to continue a long-term and in-depth training cooperation with China. Zhu Ye reviewed the series of cooperation between NCHA and ICCROM after signing the "Framework Agreement on International Training on Cultural Heritage Protection in China" and introduced China's achievements in exploration of world cultural heritage monitoring and management. Leong Wai Man welcomed all the resource people and participants on behalf of the hosts, while expressing Macao’s willingness to establish a closer relationship between the mainland and international institutions in the future.
During the opening ceremony, a band performed traditional Fado music as an example of the unique intangible cultural heritage of Macao.
In addition to strengthening capacities of the course participants, the course is further strengthening cooperation between China and ICCROM, facilitating the promotion of World Heritage monitoring and management concepts and methods around the world, and promoting the attention of professionals globally on Macao heritage sites.
The course is jointly sponsored by ICCROM, China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) and the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of SAR Government, Macao, undertaken by Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage (CACH) and Cultural Affairs Bureau of SAR Government, Macao. It is co-organized by ICOMOS China and the Institute for Tourism Studies of Macau.
Member States represented: Afghanistan, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mauritius, Mozambique, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Sri Lanka.