An Introduction to World Heritage: National Capacity Building Workshop

On March 13 2024, the National Monuments Service worked in collaboration with the Office of Public Works,   ICCROM, ICOMOS Ireland, and UCD’s World Heritage Programme to deliver the first workshop of Ireland’s new World Heritage.

The event targeted participants from a variety of stakeholder groups, and reached out to all Local Authorities. The Programme was designed to give participants an overview of the core principles at the base of UNESCO’s World Heritage processes. Throughout the day participants listened to presentations from national and international experts and actively participated by discussing key topics and providing their own opinion on issues.

The speakers included Dr Mechtild Rossler, former Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, who shared her vast experience and knowledge and brought complex World Heritage issues to life. The other expert speakers consisted of Dr John Knightly, NMS, Fergus McCormick, OPW, Nicole Franceschini, ICCROM, Mona O’Rourke, ICOMOS Ireland, and Margaret Gowan, UCD.

This first national workshop will be followed by more in-depth capacity building events focussed on the Nomination Process and the technical elements of the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage context.