International Symposium on “Sharing Our Heritages: New Challenges for Site Conservation, Protection and Tourism Management”

 (Valencia - Spain) 
From 07-02-2008   to   10-02-2008

This symposium is intended to celebrate the end of the Sharing Our Heritages (SOH) exchange programme (2005–2008) sponsored by the European Union and the Australian Government.

Themes for discussion include:

• Globalization and Challenges for World Heritage;
• Public/private partnership: A concept for efficient conservation policies?
• Conflicting visions between donors and conservationists (natural heritage)
• Conflicting visions between donors and conservationists (cultural heritage);
• How can conflicting interests between international conventions strategies and local communities’ policies be resolved?
• How may sustainability match strategies for World Heritage sites commercialization?
• Preventive conservation: an innovative strategy for sustainability?
• The limits of Heritage interpretation for visitors.

Speakers from all eight SOH universities – Charles Darwin University (CDU), Curtin University of Technology (CUT), Deakin University and the University of Western Sydney (UWS) in Australia, and the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation at the Catholic University of Leuven (RLICC/KUL, Belgium), Brandenburg Technical University (BTU, Cottbus, Germany), University College Dublin (UCD, Ireland) and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV, Spain) in Europe) – and their students participate in this event. Other heritage professionals, academics and students are also invited to attend.

The symposium, organized by UPV (Universidad Politécnica de Valencia), includes visits to the following World Heritage sites: Valltorta Neolitich Rock Art and La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia, the historical city of Morella and the Valencia Historic Centre. It is expected that the event concludes with the adoption of a declaration.