World Heritage Day, or International Day of Monuments and Sites (IDMS), is on Friday 18th April.
This year’s theme is “Heritage under Threat from Disasters and Conflicts: Preparedness and Learning from 60 years of ICOMOS Actions”.
At the 2023 ICOMOS General Assembly in Australia, Disaster and Conflict Resilient Heritage – Preparedness, Response and Recovery was selected as the theme for their Triennial Scientific Plan (TSP) 2024-2027. The first year of the plan focuses on how ICOMOS and its partners can prepare for possible disasters, through the prevention and mitigation of hazards, improving resilience, as well as by preparing for conflicts that threaten the planet’s cherished heritage resources.
In this context, ICOMOS asks in 2025: How can its members, constituent Committees and World Heritage Sites better prepare for these disasters? What role can everyone play collectively, and what does everyone need to be effective in that work?
Following on from the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Venice Charter in 2024, ICOMOS will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2025. The Second Congress of Architects and Specialists of Historic Buildings, held in Venice in 1964, adopted 13 resolutions, the first being the International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites, better known as the Venice Charter, and the second, put forward by UNESCO, was the creation of ICOMOS in 1965.
World Heritage Day (or IDMS) provides a unique opportunity to raise awareness of World Heritage. The 2025 celebrations will focus on the 60 years of ICOMOS actions in relation to safeguarding heritage under threat of disasters and conflicts as well as its future objectives in prevention, mitigation, preparation, emergency response, and recovery that they and their partners can take to safeguard heritage in times of crisis.
Non-ICOMOS organisations, institutions, NGOs and World Heritage Sites are also invited to join in with World Heritage Day/IDMS under the overarching theme of Disaster and Conflict Resilient Heritage and are encouraged to share their experiences and events. This collaboration will help to raise awareness of the wide range of scientific and traditional practices worldwide that contribute to the protection of heritage.
Click here for more details and to access World Heritage Day/IDMS communications materials.