Francesco Bandarin:
The World Heritage Convention at 50. Successes and Failures

This lecture will explore the development of the World Heritage Convention (established in 1972) to critically engage with the mechanisms behind the preservation of cultural heritage. The evolution of criteria, site categories, and policies will be assessed against the shifting role and perception of heritage in society over the last fifty years. Within this framework, a discussion of the possible futures of heritage conservation will consider challenges such as internal political processes, changing value systems, and increasing human and natural threats.

Francesco Bandarin (Venice, Italy, 1950) is an Architect and Urban Planner, specializing in Urban Conservation. From 2000 to 2010 he was Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Secretary of the World Heritage Convention. From 2010 to 2018 he served as Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Culture. He is Special Advisor to ICCROM, Senior Advisor of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Member of the Advisory Committee of the Smithsonian Institution Center for Cultural heritage. He holds degrees in Architecture (IUAV Venice) and City and Regional Planning (UC Berkeley) and was Professor of Urban Planning and Urban Conservation at the University of Venice (IUAV) from 1980 to 2016.