Towards an enhanced synergy between urban planning and living heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean

23 September 2024

On 13 August 2024, UNESCO organized an online meeting as part of the project 'Latin America and the Caribbean: Strengthening Capacities for Resilient Communities Through Sustainable Tourism and Heritage Safeguarding'. The meeting focused on the component of intangible cultural heritage in urban contexts.

With the participation of experts and a representative from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the session brought together around 25 participants from beneficiary countries-Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Participants, primarily managers and directors from the living heritage offices in each country and several urban planners, exchanged ideas on how to foster synergy between urban planning and the living heritage sectors at both national and regional levels.

The meeting provided a platform to explore precedents, share perspectives, and identify each country's specific interests in the area of living heritage in cities. Additionally, it provided updates on the project's development, particularly the safeguarding of living heritage in the context of urban development from a regional perspective.

Moreover, this meeting marked the initial step in starting a regional network focused on living heritage in urban contexts. It offered an opportunity to assess how living heritage is currently considered in urban contexts, from national to local levels, across the participating countries.

This exchange session has also laid the foundation for the next phase of the project, scheduled to begin in the second half of the year. The upcoming phase will focus on implementing an enriching capacity-building activities aimed at safeguarding living heritage in cities.

This project is implemented with the valuable support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in collaboration with the Central American Educational and Cultural Coordination (CECC/SICA). It aims to create synergies between the 1972 World Heritage Convention and the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, promoting sustainable tourism models and the resilience of local communities.

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