The event was announced at a press conference in Hanoi on September 22 by the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, the UNESCO Office in Hanoi, the Hanoi People's Committee, and the Ninh Binh People's Committee.
Co-hosted by the Vietnamese Government and UNESCO, the conference will provide a platform for discussing how authenticity can be understood, assessed, and protected across the World Heritage system. It will seek to translate regional experience into clearer, evidence-based approaches to heritage conservation.
Discussions will focus on the application of authenticity in the nomination, assessment, conservation, restoration, reconstruction, interpretation and management of heritage sites. Delegates will also examine challenges posed by climate change, natural disasters, urbanization and tourism development.
In Hanoi, the program will feature plenary sessions, group discussions and a groundbreaking ceremony for the conservation, restoration, and rehabilitation of Kinh Thien Palace at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel.
In Ninh Binh, delegates will undertake field visits to the Trang An Landscape Complex and the Tam Chuc area, providing opportunities to examine heritage management and conservation practices on the ground.
At the press conference, Mr. Jonathan Wallace Baker, UNESCO Representative in Vietnam, said authenticity was fundamental to identifying and safeguarding World Heritage and should be understood within the cultural context in which each heritage site exists.
The Asia-Pacific region has accumulated extensive experience in managing living heritage, cultural continuity, reconstruction, traditional knowledge and the relationship between communities and heritage, Baker said. The conference will help turn those experiences into clearer approaches that can be applied across the World Heritage system.
The conference is expected to bring together representatives of government agencies, heritage managers, experts and researchers from Vietnam and other countries in the region.
Vietnam's hosting of the event highlights its active role as a member of the World Heritage Committee and comes as the country marks the 50th anniversary of its membership in UNESCO.
The event also forms part of Vietnam's efforts to promote the International Decade of Culture for Sustainable Development, an initiative it has championed, while strengthening regional dialogue on the future of heritage conservation.
