The International Academy on Sustainable Development is a capacity-building programme ideated and implemented by the Research Centre Silvia Santagata – Ebla (CSS-Ebla) and UNESCO through the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe (based in Venice, Italy), with the support of several local partners in the Turin and Piedmont area. The UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development and Territory Management at the University of Turin joined the initiative as of 2017.
The main objective of the programme is to contribute to the achievement of the UN 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals, through an effective advancement of institutional and professional capacities of managing authorities, communities and relevant operators from UNESCO designations.
BACKGROUND
Launched as a pilot program in occasion of the 3rd International Forum on Local Economic Development in 2015, in collaboration with the United Nations System Staff College and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization, the Academy is based in the city of Torino (Italy), which counts three different UNESCO designations.
Besides the training activities, the Academy also promotes a Community of good management practices in UNESCO designated areas, an international cooperative network of site managers, operators and practitioners committed to disseminate sustainable practices of territorial and community management.
WORKSHOP
In accordance with the overall spirit of the Academy, the main aim of this year’s workshop is to contribute to advancing professional and institutional capacities of managing authorities, communities and relevant practitioners from UNESCO designations on the selected topic, in order to increase the benefits for the local communities and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The 2017 programme will tentatively focus on the following UNESCO designations:
– the World Heritage List
– the Biosphere Reserves included in the Man and the Biosphere programme
– the Creative Cities Network
– the Intangible Cultural Heritage
– the Global Geoparks Network
Special attention is paid to “multiple designated areas”, i.e. local territories hosting more than one UNESCO designation, in order to analyse the potential, challenges and possible experiences related to the coordination between different designations.
MAIN TOPICS
The workshop will focus on UNESCO Designations and their potential role in addressing sustainable development goals, with specific reference to the UN 2030 Agenda.
Specific topics addressed in the 2017 edition are:
– recognition and interpretation of territorial and community capital
– integrated management of cultural and natural resources
– tools and good practices for supporting sustainable development in UNESCO designations