ATHENS – The Ministry of Culture and Sports is organising, in collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Center, an international conference entitled “Next 50: The Future of World Heritage in Challenging Times. Enhancing Resilience and Sustainability”, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Convention for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage (Paris, 1972).

According to the ministry, the Conference will be opened by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the presence of UNESCO Director General Audrey Azouley.

The conference, which will take place at the European Cultural Center of Delphi on 17-18 November 2022, will be attended by the states parties to Convention of the World Heritage Committee, representatives of UNESCO, as well as experts from all over the world.

As the Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni stated:

“Today, half a century after the drafting of the Convention, the international community is faced with new, emerging challenges, which require, more than ever, not only the implementation, but also an improvement of the mechanisms of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage in order to mitigate, if not eliminate, the risks that threaten it.

“The Delphi Conference aspires to assess the contribution of the Convention, at a global level, and to present future trends, as well as the level of preparedness of societies facing contemporary challenges. To discuss the priorities and possibilities for further protection of the cultural stock, at a global and national level. The themes of the Conference concern two critical factors that already affect cultural and natural heritage worldwide and which are predicted to be crucial for the future as well: The climate crisis and its effects on nature, as well as culture and sustainable tourism. For both issues, international collaborations are required, at a political and scientific level, in order to lead to universal solutions.”