“Tomorrow’s policy makers need to know how to shape the future of World Heritage. Only if they have the specialized knowledge of sustainable management of these unique sites, the evidence of our common history will live on” says Dr. Verena Metze-Mangold, President of the German Commission for UNESCO. “The Forum not only offers the opportunity for young people to learn from each other, but also to participate in shaping international cultural policy.”

The participants from 31 countries will be discussing the impact of climate change on the UNESCO World Heritage sites, how the sites can be managed sustainably and what role education is playing for World Heritage.  

The Young Experts Forum will be officially opened on 18 June at Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Koblenz. During Workshops, presentations and field trips, the participants will explore UNESCO World Heritage. They will visit the World Heritage Site Upper Middle Rhine Valley, the Aachen Cathedral and the roman Limes. Among others they will be restoring a hundred years old dry stone wall and document the ruin of a church. In the end of the Forum the participants will simulate a session of the World Heritage Committee and pass a declaration which they will present on 28 June to the World Heritage Committee. 

As part of the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee the German Commission for UNESCO – as cooperation partner of the Federal Foreign Office – and the State of Rhineland-Palatinate organise the Young Experts Forum 2015 in cooperation with the NGO European Heritage Volunteers. The Forum is part of the World Heritage Education Programme of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and is financed by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.

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