“Space technologies for the preservation of World Heritage Sites” side event during 45th session of the World Heritage Committee

On 12 September, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, a side event on "Space Technology for World Heritage Conservation", co-hosted by the UNESCO International Centre for Space Technology for Natural and Cultural Heritage (HIST), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Copernicus Programme of the Council of Europe, was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ambassador Yang Jin, Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to UNESCO, Cui Ying, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, Indira Pudaruth Ruchaia, Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Arts and Cultural Heritage of Mauritius, Prof. Wang Xinyuan, Deputy Director of HIST, Guy Debonnet, Director of the Natural Heritage Department of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Gu Rong, Director of the Asia and Pacific Department, Mauro Facchini, Director of the Earth Observation Department of the European Commission, Dmitriy Voyakin, Director of the Central Asia Institute of International Studies, and Valerie Magar, Director of the Project Department of the International Research Center for the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, attended the meeting.

In his speech, Wang Xinyuan said that this year is the first year of the second 50 years of the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and the mid-term evaluation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this context, it is of great significance to hold this conference to discuss how to use space technology to address the challenges posed by natural and human activities to heritage sites and to promote the research, management, conservation and sustainable development of World Heritage sites. HIST is willing to work with relevant parties to strengthen interdisciplinary research, promote the application of digital technology, and improve the capacity of scientific research managers and local communities to better protect world heritage.

According to Guy Debonnet, some World Heritage sites are currently under threat from logging, illegal construction, conflict and climate change. To address these challenges, space technology provides a key tool to better understand the impact of these threats on the outstanding universal value of World Heritage sites. The World Heritage Centre will work with partners such as HIST to promote space-based technology for the conservation and management of World Heritage sites.

According to Mauro Facchini, the Copernicus Project provides Three International Organizations Co-hosted Side Event on the Theme of "Space Technology for World Heritage Conservation" at the 45th Session of the World Heritage Conference data and information products and analytical tools to help protect natural and cultural heritage. The spatiotemporal highdefinition image data of the Sentinel series satellites provides valuable information for the monitoring of World Heritage sites, including land use change and climate change.

The experts at the meeting introduced the relevant work of using space technology to monitor and protect world heritage, and called for deepening international cooperation, exploring the establishment of an international emergency monitoring and evaluation coordination mechanism, strengthening the capacity building of heritage sites, and addressing various risks and challenges faced by heritage sites.

The meeting was the first time that the three international organizations jointly organized a side event during the World Heritage Conference, attracting more than 10 international organizations including UNESCO, the World Heritage Committee's professional advisory body, the European Union, and more than 20 countries from China, Russia, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Australia, Chile, etc.

This conference is the first time that three major international organizations jointly held a side event during the World Heritage Convention. It attracted more than 10 international organizations including UNESCO, the professional advisory body of the World Heritage Committee, the European Union and nearly 100 representatives from more than 20 countries including China, Russia, Britain, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Australia and Chile.

The conference highlighted the important role of space technology in the protection of world heritage, vigorously promoted international exchanges and cooperation among relevant international organizations, States parties to the World Heritage Convention, heritage site management agencies and scientific research institutions, and jointly used space technology to strengthen risk identification, prevention, response and recovery of heritage sites, thus contributing to the implementation of the World Heritage Convention.

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