A Challenge or a contribution to sustainability
From 25 to 27 May, an international seminar entitled “Cultural Heritage and Development Initiatives: a challenge or a contribution to sustainability?” was held at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. The seminar focuses on the relationship between archaeology, landscape protection and development initiatives. It is organized by UNESCO together with the World Bank and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
ICCROM’s Director-General, Dr Stefano De Caro, spoke at the seminar, and also moderated a panel entitled “Cultural Heritage as a vector for sustainable development.” The seminar featured a range of speakers and international experts who discussed ways to balance modernization efforts with the preservation of cultural values.
The seminar takes as an opening case study the six mining areas of Afghanistan. As a policy of preventive archaeology has been adopted there, archaeological investigations must be completed and a management plan for the cultural heritage and landscape must be identified before these areas can be economically exploited. The goal is to ensure the protection of cultural heritage as per the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
At question are the development strategies and management models compatible with the protection of archaeological heritage. The seminar serves as a platform to share experiences from different countries and discuss the challenges encountered, the mitigation strategies adopted and the results achieved. Afghanistan's wealth, both in historic heritage and in mineral resources, makes this case study an effective starting point for very broad comparisons ranging from the Far East to America, Africa and Europe.
The initiative gathered representatives of governments, internationally renowned experts, research institutes and non-governmental institutions from both developed and post-conflict/developing countries, in order to facilitate a broad and inclusive discussion on how cultural heritage can be reflected in integrated modernization processes that achieve the overall goal of sustainable development.
The event counts with the participation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MIBACT, the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development and the Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan (DAFA).
For more information, please see the conference website