Armenian monasteries in Iran added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List

Fortified Armenian monasteries in Iran were added to the new sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on 6 July.

The Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iran, in the north-west of the country, consists of three monastic ensembles of the Armenian Christian faith: St Thaddeus and St Stepanos and the Chapel of Dzordzor. These edifices - the oldest of which, St Thaddeus, dates back to the 7th century – are examples of outstanding universal value of the Armenian architectural and decorative traditions. They bear testimony to very important interchanges with the other regional cultures, in particular the Byzantine, Orthodox and Persian. Situated on the south-eastern fringe of the main zone of the Armenian cultural space, the monasteries constituted a major centre for the dissemination of that culture into Azerbayjan and Persia. They are the last regional remains of this culture that are still in a satisfactory state of integrity and authenticity. Furthermore, as places of pilgrimage, the monastic ensembles are living witnesses of Armenian religious traditions through the centuries.

This is the fourth cultural site to be added onto UNESCO’s World Heritage List since the start of the current session of the World Heritage Committee today. The three properties inscribed earlier today were: Le Morne Cultural Landscape in Mauritius, The Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Madâin Sâlih) in Saudi Arabia, and the Fujian Tulou in China.

Microsoft Education Leadership Forum

How can e-technology help higher education better prepare students for the future? This key question will be explored by education ministers, senior officials and other policy leaders from all over the world at the Education Leaders Forum (ELF) organized by Microsoft at UNESCO Headquarters on 7 and 8 July.

Read more!

Eight new sites added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List

Vauban designed fort

The World Heritage Committee meeting in Quebec City has added eight new cultural sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage List on the morning of the 7 of July. With these inscriptions, Papua New Guinea and San Marino enter the World Heritage List for the first time.

The new sites inscribed are:

• Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia)
• Kuk Early Agricultural Site (Papua New Guinea)
• Stari Grad Plain (Croatia)
• Fortifications of Vauban (France)
  
• Berlin Modernism Housing Estates (Germany)
• Mantua and Sabbioneta
• San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano (San Marino)
• The Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of Carpathian Mountain Area (Slovakia)

Read more!

Click here to see video of the sites
(Windows Media Player required)

The Medium–Term Strategy of the IBI for 2008–2013

The International Bureau for Education (IBE) has published its medium term strategy covering the years 2008 through 2013. Click here to access the PDF file for the 32 page document.

The IBE's main mission is to act as UNESCO's center specialized in contents, methods and structure of education. It builds networks to share expertise on curriculum development in all regions of the world and aims to introduce modern approaches in curriculum design and implementation, improve practical skills and promote informed policy dialogue at national, regional and international levels.

The IBE strategy is of course linked to the overall medium term strategy of UNESCO for the same period.

"Asia and Arab States join forces on Community Learning Centers"

© UNESCO/Françoise Pinzon Gil
Tents housing schools, Kashmir, Pakistan

The last week in June saw an international seminar in Bandung, Indonesia on Community Learning Centers (CLCs) which provided an opportunity to take stock of research findings on these community-based education initiatives. Over 25 countries internationally, including eight in the Arab region, use CLCs as key delivery mechanisms for literacy and continuing education programs. These flexible, open centres enjoy high local participation and empower marginalized groups that have had little or no access to formal education in their lives.

Read more!

Education Leaders Forum 2008

Success and Sustainability: Tertiary Education’s Global Challenge

7-8 July 2008, Paris, France

UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector, in partnership with Microsoft, will host the Education Leaders Forum on 7 and 8 July 2008 at UNESCO Headquarters.

The Education Leaders Forum creates a venue for government leaders and opinion makers in education to share their insights, perspectives, and experiences. It will focus on ‘Success and Sustainability: Tertiary Education’s Global Challenge’, and will explore the issues and propose innovative solutions for success and sustainability of tertiary education in the 21st century.

Read more.

World Heritage: Science and Technology

An Expert Workshop aimed at contributing to the development of guidelines and criteria for the review of sites of interest for the heritage of science and technology on the World Heritage List was held at The Wellcome Trust in London on 21 to 23 January 2008. The meeting was sponsored by the U.K. National Commission for UNESCO.

Key Workshop Papers and Presentations are now available.

Modern science and technology is a critically important element in the cultural heritage of mankind, Indeed, much of UNESCO's overall program is oriented to the diffusion of this common heritage to less developed nations, especially the nations of Africa. Thus it seems appropriate that UNESCO's World Heritage Center should specifically give testimony to this cultural heritage by inscribing sites making and commemorating key scientific and/or technological advances were first made.

The United States is (in the opinion of JAD) quite rich in sites of technological significance adequate to justify inclusion in the World Heritage list, and indeed in scientific sites as well.

U.S. sites that merit consideration for inclusion in the World Heritage list on the basis of their importance in the technological history of mankind include:

The American System of Manufacturing: This system which used semi-skilled labor employing machine tools with templates to manufacture standardized interchangeable parts revolutionized industry. It was developrd by the United States Department of War in the Springfield and Harpers Ferry armories.

Thomas Edison's Laboratory: Edison invented the first practical electrical lighting system as well as many electrical devices, and stands as the nation's and perhaps the world's most important inventor. His laboratory was a trailblazing institution in itself, industrializing the process of invention and technology development. The site is maintained by the National Park Service as the Edison National Historic Site.

The Henry Ford Museum: Which commemorates (among other things) the creation by Ford of the first manufacturing assembly line.

The National Air and Space Museum: Which includes key artifacts of the development of manned aviation and space flight, including the Wright Brothers plane, the first plane to make the transatlantic flight, and a number of vehicles that pioneered space flight.

Perhaps the next time that the U.S. Government revises the tentative list of World Heritage sites in this country, sites commemorating the U.S. contribution to the worlds heritage of scientific knowledge and technology might be added to the list.