On Dec. 15, in Ha Long city, being invited by Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Micheal Di Giovince- an expert from the University of Chicago had a talk about the issues relevant to UNESCO and the World Heritages.
At the talk, the U.S expert has clearly stated that the goal of UNESCO is to create the peace of the world by awarding world heritage title to the deserving sites. He also listed UNESCO’s criteria to be recognized as a cultural world heritage, as well as the way in which UNESCO assists the state parties to conserve and preserve their cultural heritage sites.
In addition, he said that UNESCO has removed a number of sites from the World Heritage List as local people damaged and even ruined their heritage sites.
Mr. Micheal Di Giovince gave some advices to help local people understand how to protect and preserve the cultural world heritage sites. Specifically, in case of Ha Long bay, he suggested that functional authorities need to support local community by improving their living conditions and providing them with sustainable livelihood so that Ha Long people could actively involve in environmental protection and heritage conservation.
Regarding to Yen Tu relic, he commented that Yen Tu has rich potentials to become a world cultural heritage. Convincing justifications of criteria of Yen Tu for UNESCO are not only its outstanding cultural and spiritual values but also its overall picture of the daily life of local people living around the relic.
The talk helped raise awareness of local people and students about conservation and preservation of Ha Long Bay World Heritage Site. At the same time, through the talk, relevant departments and sectors may have right orientation in promoting outstanding values of the sites.
Lan Anh
