On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Permanent Delegation of Greece to UNESCO in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre are organizing an international Conference in Delphi (Greece) on 17-18 November 2022, entitled: The Next 50 – The future of World Heritage in challenging times enhancing resilience and sustainability. Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis will open the event.

The Delphi Conference will now take place on 17 – 18 November 2022. These new dates are in tribute to the adoption of the Convention in November 1972, thereby allowing the Conference to mark the 50th anniversary of World Heritage. A detailed schedule will follow in the coming days.

The aim of the Delphi Conference is to present critical factors of our times that affect cultural and natural monuments, worldwide, and the potential of the World Heritage Convention to contribute to their identification and mitigation. In this context, Delphi Conference aspires to deal mainly with two topics, which already affect and are predicted to be decisive for the future: climate change and sustainable tourism. A special sub-session will be dedicated to Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The Convention for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage (Paris, 1972) is the most widespread international legal text, which was formed through the institutions and procedures provided for in it, making use of the international experience which constitutes the common understanding of the content of cultural and natural heritage protection. At the same time, the Convention has made a decisive contribution to the establishment of high standards for the protection and preservation of World Heritage, demonstrating particular dynamics, as well as the possibility for the continuous adaptation of the perception of the concept of protection, to the circumstances.

The conference, entitled “Next 50: The Future of World Heritage in Challenging Times. Enhancing Resilience and Sustainability”, will be attended by UNESCO Director-General Audrey while participating States-Members of the World Heritage Committee, UNESCO representatives, and experts from around the world.

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