Do your bit: Focus on days highlighting international issues International Days and Observances
World Heritage Day
18 April
Theme 2009:
Heritage and Science
The International Day for Monuments and Sites (informally known as the World Heritage Day) was created on 18th April, 1982, by ICOMOS and later approved at the 22nd UNESCO General Conference in 1983. This special day offers an opportunity to raise public’s awareness concerning the diversity of the world’s heritage and the efforts that are required to protect and conserve it, as well as to draw attention to its vulnerability.

The International Day for Monuments and Sites (World Heirtage Day)
2009 Theme: Heritage and Science

There are two major streams to the theme of Heritage and Science that has been chosen for International Day for Monuments and Sites 2009: one being the role that science (and the scientific process) has played in the creation of heritage, and the other being the contribution that science (and technology) offers to the study of heritage.

Some recent World Heritage Day themes include:

  • 2008: Religious heritage and sacred places
  • 2007: Cultural landscapes and monuments of nature
  • 2006: Industrial Heritage
  • 2005: 40th Anniversary of ICOMOS
  • 2004: Earthen Architecture and Heritage
  • 2003: Underwater Cultural Heritage
  • 2002: 20th Century Heritage
  • 2001: Save our historic villages

Below are a number of general suggestions* for nationally organized activities to mark this event:

  • Visits to monuments and sites, and restoration works, possibly with free admission;
  • Articles in newspapers and magazines, as well as television and radio broadcasts;
  • Hanging banners in town squares or principal traffic arteries calling attention to the day and the preservation of cultural heritage;
  • Inviting local and foreign experts and personalities for conferences and interviews;
  • Organizing discussions in cultural-centers, city halls, and other public spaces.
  • Exhibitions (photos, paintings, etc)
  • Publication of books, post-cards, stamps, posters
  • Awarding prizes to organizations or persons who have made an outstanding contribution to the conservation and promotion of cultural heritage or produced an excellent publication on the subject.
  • Inaugurate a recently restored monument
  • Special awareness raising activities amongst school children and youth
  • Promotion of "twinning" opportunities, defining areas for co-operation; exchange of speakers; organization of meetings and seminars, or the editing of joint publications.
* Source: ICOMOS

Additional Resources:

The preservation and conservation of our heritage - tangible and intangible - is a critical policy objective that has considerable externalities and positive multipliers. These include tourism, job creation and income generation and other issues, especially the creation of pride among an area's residents in their locality to develop it further.

GDRC therefore reaffirms its committment to uphold the objectives of the World Heritage Day, and work towards better understanding of, and action on, promoting and enhancing heritage conservation, particularly in developing countries

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