Prof. Dr. Marie-Theres Albert
IHS Research and Science Centre
The tangible and intangible heritage of people, the cultures of the world and their diversity, as well as the documents of people in memory of their heritage, are the results of human creativity and creative power, which should be used for sustainable development processes. The heritage of humanity also includes natural heritage.
The protection of the heritage of humanity is therefore a challenge to civil society, including its institutions, which must be posed by the international community. The IHS has made the sustainable protection and use of the heritage of humanity its mission, conducting research and teaching in the field of World Heritage, intangible heritage, and documentary heritage.
In November 1972, the General Assembly of the UNESCO adopted the World Heritage Convention for the protection and conservation of natural and cultural property of all types and of all times.
The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was adopted in 2003 as an instrument particularly for the identity building of people.
The Heritage Studies research of documentary heritage lies at the intersection of culture, humanities and information science.
Heritage creates identity. This is the message of the critical sociology, mainly of Norbert Elias, one of the most important scientists behind UNESCOs founding ideas. Based on this it is consequent that individuals and societies are responsible for the sustainable safeguarding of their heritage. The choice of the theme “50 Years World Heritage Convention: Shared Responsibility – Conflict & Reconciliation” is therefore to reflect on the identity-building function of heritage. more …
This is a quiz for students, teachers and other interested people, who want to test their knowledge about UNESCO World Heritage. Through 11 questions and answers you learn, for example, what belongs to World Heritage, why the UNESCO World Heritage programme exists and what its goals are.
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In order to sustainably preserve the Ore Mountains / Krušnohoří mining region as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for all of humanity and future generations, its importance must be conveyed to young people in particular. Together with the traditional associations and teachers from the mining region, the IHS has developed formats and methods with which young people are taught the international significance of their heritage and they are motivated and qualified to take responsibility for it. more …
The volume “The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme: Key Aspects and Recent Developments” responds to the growing interest in the scientific study of the Memory of the World Programme (MoW) and its core concept of documentary heritage, which have received little attention from scholarship so far. The volume, which is the sixth publication in the Heritage Studies Series, provides a first collection of relevant ideas, reflections, theoretical and methodological considerations for the study of the MoW Programme, offering a basis for follow-up activities.
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European transboundary UNESCO World Heritage sites uniquely portray how the peoples of Europe have shaped their cultures and societies together. This project aims to familiarise students and teachers with the topic of the Transboundary World Heritage sites: the Mining Cultural Landscape Erzgebirge / Krušnohoří, the German-Polish Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski and the German Hedeby and the Danevirke. Using these three heritage sites as examples, the students and teachers explore their joint European history, discover what themes link them together, and those which set them apart. In binational workshops they produced videos of the site that are published on the digital learning platform: https://worldheritage-education.eu/en more …
Proceedings of the Summer School: “African Heritage and the Pillars of Sustainability” conducted in July 2016 by the Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair in Heritage Studies BTU Cottbus, Prof. Dr. Marie-Theres Albert, the team of the fahari yetu project and the University of Iringa. more …