The Declaration of Melbourne (1998)

Forum UNESCO - University and Heritage (FUUH) . Higher education is crucial to the long-term preservation of World Heritage sites. As the World Heritage List grows, there is an urgent need for qualified professionals to manage every aspect of the sites, from conservation and preservation to tourism and interaction with local communities.

Preface:  The Declaration of Melbourne (1998) was adopted by the third International Seminar Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage (FUUH), Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia, 4-9 Oct, 1998.

The third international seminar of Forum UNESCO was held at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. The resulting declaration reiterates the objectives of the international network of universities that have programs related to tangible and intangible heritage and outlines commitments to expand the network. These include strengthening training of university students, sharing and exchanging knowledge and skills, increasing public awareness of the importance of cultural heritage, and strengthening cooperation with organizations responsible for cultural heritage including ICOMOS, the International Council of Museums, and the World Monuments Fund.

The Declaration also recommends that teaching programs include cultural heritage law in their curriculum and strengthen international cooperation through training programs, scholarship and fellowships. Deakin University also declares its intention to establish a regional center for international conservation of cultural heritage.

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, 2008 reiterates the continued status of the arts in future curriculum provision. It acknowledges that the arts contribute to understanding "the spiritual, moral and aesthetic dimensions of life; and open up new ways of thinking."
The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, 2008 reiterates the continued status of the arts in future curriculum provision. It acknowledges that the arts contribute to understanding “the spiritual, moral and aesthetic dimensions of life; and open up new ways of thinking”.

What’s Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage (FUUH) ?

International Network Forum UNESCO - University and Heritage. Forum UNESCO - University and Heritage (FUUH) has created the UNESCO Chair ‘Forum University and Heritage’, by the agreement signed between UNESCO and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV, Spain) in 2013.
International Network Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage. Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage (FUUH) has created the UNESCO Chair ‘Forum University and Heritage’, by the agreement signed between UNESCO and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV, Spain) in 2013.

Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage (FUUH) is a UNESCO project for undertaking activities to protect and safeguard the cultural and natural heritage, through an international network of higher education. FUUH is under the joint responsibility of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) Spain.

Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage aims to be informed or to disseminate information widely about disaster and risk mitigation and management news and activities implemented by universities through the use of the network database freely accessible online.

To this date, International Seminars have been organized, in Valencia, Spain (1996 & 2001); Quebec, Canada (1997); Melbourne, Australia (1998); AI Akhawayn, Morocco (1999); Byblos and Beirut, Lebanon (2000); Amman, Petra and Irbid, Jordan (2002); San Cristobal de La Laguna, Spain (2003); Buenos Aires, Argentina (2004); Newcastle, United Kingdom (2005) and Florence, Italy (2006).  Most important resulting documents have been brought out:

What’s UNESCO Chair Forum University and Heritage?

upv_unesco_chair

The UNESCO Chair Forum University and Heritage, established in July 2013, brings the experience in the management of the international network in the field of higher education “Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage” (FUUH) created in 1995 through an agreement between UNESCO and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) with the aim of involving professors, researchers, students and professionals around the world in activities in favour of protection and safeguard of the cultural and natural heritage respecting UNESCO’s ideals.

With this goal and throughout this time, the FUUH network has carried out numerous workshops, exhibitions, publications, training courses and projects, especially highlighting their International Seminars. These activities have counted with the participation of worldwide heritage specialists and commitment of universities through institutional agreements.

The UNESCO Chair Forum University and Heritage expresses the commitment of the UPV to continue contributing to the preservation and enhancement of heritage through the cooperation between universities and promoting the growth and exchange of knowledge in the FUUH network, nowadays coordinated in collaboration with the World Heritage Centre (WHC) of UNESCO and has currently more than 3,000 individual members from 130 countries worldwide.

Moreover, all 5 key functions of UNESCO are represented in this Chair through its activities:

  • Capacity-building
  • Clearing House
  • Laboratory of Ideas
  • Standard-setting
  • International cooperation

In this context, the work area and objectives of the UNESCO Chair contribute to:

  • Encourage cooperation in higher education, the sciences, culture, communication and information, being common to the UNESCO Medium-term Strategy 2014-2021, in particular with the following strategic objectives:
    • Promoting international scientific cooperation on critical challenges to sustainable development.
    • Supporting inclusive social development, fostering intercultural dialogue for the rapprochement of cultures and promoting ethical principles.
    • Protecting, promoting and transmitting heritage.
    • Fostering creativity and the diversity of cultural expressions.
    • Promoting freedom of expression, media development and access to information and knowledge using the ICTs.
  • The protection of heritage, considering its diversity (natural and cultural, movable and immovable, tangible and intangible), taking into account its diverse forms and its triple function: identity, vector of development and instrument of reconciliation.
  • The dissemination and the implementation of international conventions related to the protection of cultural heritage (1954, 1970, 1972 and 2001), natural heritage (1972) and intangible heritage (2003), notably reinforcing the strategic objective of UNESCO to “Sustainable Protection  and enhancement of  cultural heritage”.
Category
Declaration

Date

1998

Promulgation

The third International Seminar Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage (FUUH), Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia, 4-9 Oct, 1998.

Descriptions

  • The resulting declaration reiterates the objectives of the international network of universities that have programs related to tangible and intangible heritage and outlines commitments to expand the network. These include strengthening training of university students, sharing and exchanging knowledge and skills, increasing public awareness of the importance of cultural heritage, and strengthening cooperation with organizations responsible for cultural heritage including ICOMOS, ICOM, and WMF.
  • The Declaration also recommends that teaching programs include cultural heritage law in their curriculum and strengthen international cooperation through training programs, scholarship and fellowships.
  • Deakin University also declares its intention to establish a regional center for international conservation of cultural heritage.

Source

http://www.unesco.org/culture/forum/html_eng/australia.shtml

Download

 http://www.forumunescochair.upv.es/eng/catedra_unesco_upv/resoluciones/doc/1998melbourne_eng.pdf

Preview

Declaration of Melbourne

Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage
Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia, 4 – 9 October 1998

The 150 representatives of universities coming from 46 countries all over the world, national and international heritage authorities, the representatives of ICOMOS, ICOM, ICCROM, WMF, UIA present in Melbourne.

Noting with appreciation the strong support given by Deakin University and the Australian authorities,

And further noting the number of significant joint projects realized by many universities since the last seminar at Laval University in Quebec in 1997, as well as the 83 significant contributions presented in plenary and parallel discussion groups,

Declaring the major purpose of this international network of universities having disciplines related to the tangible and intangible heritage is to mobilize human and technical resources on the national, regional and international level of teachers and students,

Decide to expand the international network Forum UNESCO-University and Heritage created in Valencia, Spain in 1996;

Confirm their determination to implement the network by

  • strengthening their ethical commitment to work for the adoption and implementation of national laws which protect the cultural heritage as well as the conventions and recommendations of UNESCO on this subject;
  • intensifying their interdisciplinary projects for the preservation of intangible and revitalization of intangible heritage as well as its context thus creating a dynamic for social, cultural and economic development;
  • strengthening training of university students in tangible and intangible heritage conservation as well as the sharing and exchange between the universities of knowledge, skills and experience for mutual enrichment;
  • increasing the awareness of peoples to the importance of the cultural heritage so as to engender greater participation, especially by the young, in efforts to preserve our heritage.

Recommend the strengthening of co-operation with

ICOMOS by participation in the General Assembly, Mexico 1999,

ICCROM by adoption of a joint training program,

ICOM by recommending the development of an ICOM International committee of university museums,

WMF by strengthening co-operation of technical resources for the heritage program.

UIA by participation in the next General Congress in Beijing (China) 1999

Invite universities working with the cultural heritage in different countries to mobilize all disciplines and join their efforts to the international network for the next seminar of Forum UNESCO University and Heritage at Fez 1999;

Request the Vice-Chancellor of Deakin University to follow up the initiatives established during the Melbourne seminar by the creation of a UNESCO Chair devoted to the cultural heritage as well as setting up a fellowship/scholarship program;

Invite the Chancellors or presidents of universities

  • give support, both logistic and substantial, to the activities of Forum UNESCO-University and Heritage;
  • introduce or develop cultural heritage law in their teaching programs;
  • strengthen their international co-operation by training programs, scholarships and fellowships;

Resolve to establish a legacy project at this and future seminars that in the context of university and heritage means university students scholarships and university fellowships for teachers;

Invite the Director-General of UNESCO to give further support to reinforce the development and co-ordination of the international Forum UNESCO-University and Heritage.

Deakin University declares its intention to continue to network with all participating universities, indeed, with all universities whose curricula include the stewardship of local, regional or global cultural heritage to the benefit of all humanity.

Deakin University, in its aim of continued university and heritage networking, intends to establish a regional centre for international cultural heritage conservation education under the direction of a proposed UNESCO heritage chair and the auspices of Forum UNESCO-University and Heritage at Deakin University.

References

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4 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

  1. Declaration of Valencia (1996) – Open Repository on Cultural Property
  2. The Declaration of Quebec (1997) – Open Repository on Cultural Property
  3. The Declaration of AI Akhawayn (1999) – Open Repository on Cultural Property
  4. The Charter of Vice-Chancellors (1999) – Open Repository on Cultural Property

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