Between 20 and 21 October, Palazzo Piloni, headquarters of the Provincial Administration of Belluno, hosted a course aimed at local administrators designed to promote ‘Knowledge, Responsibility and Awareness’ in the management of the World Heritage Site. The event was organised by the Education and Scientific Research Network of the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation and coordinated by the Autonomous Province of Trento through the tsm|step School for Regional and Landscape Management.
Commitment to active stewardship
Mayors, councillors, municipal and provincial council members from the various regional entities that include the nine World Heritage Systems, met for two days to discuss new directions and perspectives with regard to the Dolomites. The common objective, despite the great variety of socio-economic contexts, is to guarantee an active stewardship of the World Heritage Site that is capable of promoting the environmental, social, cultural and economic values of individual regions and the communities that inhabit them.
Community involvement
The administrators were first provided with useful knowledge for the dissemination of UNESCO values through a talk given by UNESCO Dolomites Foundation director Mara Nemela, a geological overview by Prof. Piero Gianolla (University of Ferrara), and a visit to the exhibition Dolomites. Geological phenomena and human landscapes, led by curator Prof. Bruno Zanon.
On the second day, space was given to the possible actions of citizens and local communities, with speeches by Prof. Benedetta Castiglioni (University of Padua), Mauro Pascolini (University of Udine) and conclusions by Annibale Salsa, member of the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation Scientific Committee.