UNESCO Participates in the International Conference on ‘Managing the Social Capital and Infrastructure in Promoting Heritage Sites’, Soegijapranata Catholic University, Semarang

UNESCO has participated in the International Conference on ‘Managing the Social Capital and Infrastructure in Promoting Heritage Sites’, held on 22 November 2014 at Soegijapranata Catholic University, Semarang, The Seminar, co-organized by Soegijapranata Catholic University, Oen’s Semarang Foundation, and the Old City Management Board (Badan Pengelolaan Kawasan Kota Lama (BPK2L)), aimed to address challenges around the conservation of urban heritage with high community involvement.
The Seminar focused on five major urban conservation themes, namely: The social aspect of urban conservation, sustainable tourism, water management, creative economy development, and youth involvement. Over 70 international and national speakers, academics, university students, the private sector and community members participated in the Seminar. The event is part of the larger efforts to raise awareness around the conservation of the historic Kota Lama (Old City) area of Semarang, and is the third International Seminar held on heritage management in Semarang since 2012.
As part of the Seminar, Mr. Andrew Henderson, from the Culture Unit of the UNESCO Jakarta Office, delivered a presentation entitled ‘World Heritage and the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) Approach’. In his presentation, Mr. Henderson outlined that the HUL approach was officially adopted on 10 November 2011 by UNESCO’s General Conference (including Indonesia). The HUL approach moves beyond the preservation of the physical environment, and focuses on the entire human environment with all of its tangible and intangible qualities. It seeks to increase the sustainability of planning and design interventions by taking into account the existing built environment, intangible heritage, and cultural diversity, socio-economic and environmental factors along with local community values
Mr. Henderson further outlined that The World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region (WHITRAP), located in Shanghai, China, has been working to support the implementation of the HUL Approach across Asia and the Pacific. In collaboration with WHITRAP, already, over eight (8) cities are implementing the HUL approach in China, India, Pakistan, Fiji and Australia respectively. Under the coordination of WHTRAP, the overall results from the pilot sites will be reported back to the UNESCO General Conference in 2015.
Link : http://www.unesco.org/new/en/jakarta/about-this-office/single-view/news/unesco_participates_in_the_international_conference_on_managing_the_social_capital_and_infrastructure_in_promoting_heritage_sites_soegijapranata_catholic_university_semarang/#.VHZ9zdKsV8F