CWSS co-organizes conference on perspectives of transboundary cooperation in World Heritage

On 12 and 13 December 2016 a conference on “Perspectives of transboundary cooperation in World Heritage” took place at the Representation of the State of Hesse in Berlin. The event was jointly organized by the German Commission for UNESCO (DUK), the Ministry of Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection of the State of Hesse, the Federal Foreign Office and the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS). About 70 experts from World Heritage sites in Germany and Europe, national and international professionals on monument and nature conservation as well as representatives of states took part, showcasing best practices and identifying criteria for successful cooperation in transboundary UNESCO World Heritage sites. Among the criteria are the establishment of a transnational office for coordinating measures on conservation and development, a common educational mission and harmonised measures for monitoring the state of conservation.

Professor Maria Böhmer, State Minister at the Federal Foreign Office, Dr. Karin Kaiser, Head of Division at the Ministry of Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection of the State of Hessen, Dr. Co Verdaas, Chairman of the Wadden Sea Board, and Dr. Roland Bernecker, Secretary General of the DUK, opened the conference. Rüdiger Strempel, Executive Secretary of the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS), and Anja Domnick, Project Officer, Sustainable Tourism Strategy, presented success stories of the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation. Next to the DUK,

The conference was the first of its kind to concentrate on transboundary sites. It is no coincidence that Germany takes a particular interest in transboundary sites, as parts of no fewer than six transboundary World Heritage sites are located in the country.