An opportunity to acquire expertise in areas which are decisive for today’s policies: environment, territory, landscape and culture. The World Natural Heritage Management postgraduate course, focusing on knowledge and management of natural properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, is in its sixth year and will run from 3 October 2018 to 18 October 2019. Applications are open until 14 September at www.tsm.tn.it.
APPLICANTS
The World Natural Heritage Management postgraduate course is aimed primarily at managers, public officials, scholars and professionals of institutions and public and private organisations who manage or help manage UNESCO natural properties; however young graduates with at least a three-year undergraduate degree who wish to learn more about the knowledge, culture, economy and management of natural properties may also apply (fifteen places are available on the course).
AIMS
Ever since the Dolomites were recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the focus on active conservation has steadily grown. Similarly, those who manage or are involved in the management of sites, as with all natural UNESCO sites, now need a wider skillset. Any approach must concentrate on at least three fronts: conservation, management and development. Each of these areas is dependent on the others: conserving without managing means making a museum piece of the property, managing without generating sustainable development means excluding communities (who had always been responsible for the management and conservation of the Property) from the advantages of UNESCO recognition. Purely administrative approaches are outdated, what we need are dynamic and competent institutions and organisations. This postgraduate course is therefore geared to meeting the needs of the territory to protect, promote and enhance its natural properties.
ORGANISATION
The World Natural Heritage Management postgraduate course is sponsored by the Autonomous Province of Trento, in partnership with the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation and its Education and Scientific Research Network; it was set up by “tsm-step Scuola per il governo del territorio e del paesaggio” and the Department of Economics and Statistics “Cognetti de Martiis” of the University of Turin. It also enjoys the support of MUSE-Trento Science Museum, the Arte Sella Association of Borgo Valsugana and the Santagata Foundation for the Economics of Culture.
COURSE DATES AND COST
The classroom lessons will be held in Trento at the headquarters of “tsm-step Scuola per il governo del territorio e del paesaggio” on Wednesdays from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm, Thursdays from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm and from 1.30 pm to 5.30 pm and Fridays from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm and from 1.30 pm to 5.30 pm. The classroom sessions (370 hours) will continue until April, after which participants will begin their internships and write up their projects (360 hours), which will be assessed on 18 October 2019. Applicants will be selected on 17 September (they will attend a motivational interview and their knowledge of English will be tested). The cost of the course is Euro 4,000 and includes all the course material, textbooks, travelling expenses and overnight accommodation, luncheon vouchers.
SCHOLARSHIPS: FOCUS ON THE BELLUNO AREA
Scholarships are available for the course (criteria and conditions at www.tsm.tn.it): five will be for Euro 1000 and three for Euro 2000. They will be awarded upon evaluation of a project, to be presented during the selection process, which shows extensive knowledge of the Belluno area.