1959 UNESCO launches international campaign to restore Egypt and Sudan cultural heritage sites….(collecting US$80 million to save Abu Simbel temples in the Nile valley, which were threatened by flooding due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam) and prepares draft of convention on the protection of cultural heritage.

1962 UNESCO Recommendation on the Safeguarding of the Beauty and Character of Landscapes and Sites. This recommendation covers the preservation and the restoration of the aspect of natural, rural and urban landscapes and sites, whether natural or man-made, which have a cultural or aesthetic interest or form typical natural surroundings.

1965 A White House Conference in Washington, D.C., in 1965 called for a "World Heritage Trust" that would stimulate international cooperation to protect "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry.

1966 UNESCO spearheads an international Campaign to Save Venice after disastrous floods threatened the city on 4 November 1966.

1968 IUCN (World Conservation Union) develops a similar proposal to the "World Heritage Trust" for its members

1972 Following a United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972 and the work of expert groups involving IUCN, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and UNESCO, all the proposals came together in the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in Paris on 16 November 1972.

1992 20th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, creation of the World Heritage Centre, and Cultural Landscapes categories adopted by World Heritage Committee (the World Heritage Convention became the first international legal instrument to recognise and protect cultural landscapes.)

1994 Global Strategy for a Representative World Heritage List was adopted by World Heritage Committee in the quest to achieve a better regional balance and greater thematic diversity in the World Heritage List. It encourages the nomination of sites in underrepresented parts of the world and especially in categories which are not yet fully represented on the List.

1994 The Young People's Participation in World Heritage Preservation and Promotion was launched in 100 countries. The Project developed new educational approaches to informing young people and motivating them to become involved in the protection and promotion of heritage.

2002 UNESCO World Heritage Centre in partnership with cultural and scientific societies and institutions, universities, and governments worldwide organized a Virtual Congress with series of themed Conferences focusing on issues of World Heritage in the Digital Age in Egypt, China, Senegal, Mexico and France.

2002 World Heritage 2002: Shared Legacy, Common Responsibility, International Congress organized by UNESCO and the Italian Government on the 30th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention in Venice, Italy, 14-16 Nov 2002. The goals of the Conference are three-fold: to assess the past 30 years of implementation of the World Heritage Convention; to promote the World Heritage Convention; and to strengthen partnerships for World Heritage conservation. Prior to that event, on the 11th and 12th of November, nine workshops are to be held in and around Venice on the following themes:

- The Legal Tools for World Heritage Conservation (Siena)
- Cultural Landscapes: The Challenges of Conservation (Ferrara)
- Towards Innovative Partnerships for World Heritage (Venice)
- Partnerships for the conservation of World Heritage Cities (Urbino and Pesaro)
- Monitoring World Heritage (Vicenza)
- The World Heritage Convention: Partnerships to Conserve nature and Bio-diversity, (Trieste)
- World Heritage University Training (Feltre)
- World Heritage Site Management (Padova)
- Mobilizing Youth for World Heritage (Treviso)