©G. Giannopoulos
Kotor bay, Montenegro

The celebrations this year of the 40th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, under the theme “World Heritage and Sustainable Development: the Role of Local Communities in the Management of World Heritage Sites”, offer a tremendous opportunity to reinforce joint efforts towards the development of effective policies and practices for the better management of cultural and natural heritage, with special focus on participatory approaches and community engagement.

In this context, the UNESCO Venice Office, in cooperation with the national authorities of Montenegro, is organizing a regional meeting to share experiences, good practices and planned activities concerning the management of World Heritage and other UNESCO designated sites (MAB Biosphere Reserves) in South-Eastern Europe, with a strong focus on the role of communities in the identification, management and conservation of such sites.

Community involvement and engagement are now recognized as one of the major strategic objectives for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and of the Man and the Biosphere Programme, as well as of any sustainable heritage protection. This meeting will therefore serve to share reflection on strategies to face global challenges in the sustainable management of these sites, and come as a useful complementary event to the regional workshop organized by UNESCO for site managers in Sibiu, Romania, from 14 to 20 May 2012, in the framework of the preparation of the Second Cycle of Periodic reporting for Europe and North America.