ICOMOS Livecast: World Heritage & Sustainable Tourism, 13 oktober 19.30h.

foto: Veenhuizen, een van de Koloniën van Weldadigheid, in vogelvlucht

Vormt toerisme een bedreiging voor werelderfgoed sites of is het juist een aanjager voor de vitaliteit ervan? Peter DeBrine, Elizabeth Stoit en Piet Gheleyns gaan in op de ervaringen die zijn opgedaan tijdens de pandemie in de Koloniën van Weldadigheid in Nederland en België (sinds deze zomer met Werelderfgoed status). Welke uitdagingen moesten zij het hoofd bieden op zoek naar duurzame vormen van toerisme? Interesse? Geef u svp op:  lezingen@icomos.nl.

Invitation to ICOMOS Onlne Lectures 13 October

You are cordially invited to the upcoming lectures evening on Wednesday 13 Oct. on World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism: experiences from the Colonies of Benevolence (Belgium/NL

We hope you will join us digitally,
Kind regards, 

ICOMOS Netherlands Lectures Committee: Ankie Petersen, Ardjuna Candotti, Daan Lavies, Jean Paul Corten, Job Pardoel, Maurits van Putten, Remco Vermeulen, Sofia Lovegrove & Thijs van Roon.

World Heritage & Sustainable Tourism: How to combine?

UNESCO World Heritage sites are about the preservation of their Outstanding Universal Value and at the same time have a strong appeal to tourists. In the past few years UNESCO saw an increase in the number of reports due to the potential negative impact of tourism. The UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme is an approach based on “dialogue and stakeholder cooperation where planning for tourism and heritage management is integrated at a destination level, the natural and cultural assets are valued and protected, and appropriate tourism developed”. 

During this evening we will also look at the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on World Heritage and sustainable tourism.  According to ‘World Heritage in the face of COVID-19’ (2021), World Heritage sites experienced a 66% drop in visitation and a 52% decline in ticket sales in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.  

Programme:

19:30     Welcome and introduction: Carol Westrik and Remco Vermeulen 
19:40     Peter DeBrine: World Heritage, sustainable tourism, and the challenges and opportunities due to COVID-19
20:00     Q&A with audience
20:15     Short break
20:25    Elizabeth Stoit and Piet Geleyns: Colonies of Benevolence: World Heritage status as driver for regenerative tourism 
20:45    Q&A with audience
21:15    End
 

About the Lectures

Our first speaker of the evening is Peter DeBrine, who leads the UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme. He will provide further information on World Heritage, sustainable tourism and the impact of COVID-19. He will give examples of how World Heritage sites are dealing with these topics.

About the Speakers

Peter DeBrine is a destination advisor and sustainable tourism expert. For the past ten years he coordinated the UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme, providing a global framework for finding coordinated sustainable tourism solutions for heritage conservation and local community development. As a Senior Project Officer, he spearheaded the implementation of the global tourism projects and private sector partnerships for UNESCO. Previously he was the Director of the World Heritage Alliance at the United Nations Foundation—a global community of travelers, members of the travel industry, government groups, non-governmental organizations, and the United Nations working together to preserve and protect World Heritage sites while supporting local communities.

Elizabeth Stoit, with a background in social geography and tourism, has been working on the subject destination management and heritage for over 20 years. In the last 10 years Stoit has been responsible for the Touristic Cooperation of Hansa towns in the Netherlands. From the beginning of this year, she has been involved in drafting the touristic marketing strategy of the seven sites of the Colonies of Benevolence together, both in The Netherlands and Belgium. 

Piet Geleyns has a master in civil engineering/architecture (K.U.Leuven), and has a master of conservation in historic towns and buildings (RLICC). Following a brief period as a researcher in architectural history, he joined the monuments and sites administration of Flanders in 2004. Currently, he is a policy advisor and the focal point for cultural world heritage for Flanders. As such, he has been involved in numerous World Heritage nominations and state of conservation issues.

RSVP for attendance by sending an email to: lezingen@icomos.nl.