Rights-Based Approaches and Sustainable Development: Challenges and Opportunities

The “Our Common Dignity” initiative and the rights dimension of the new Sustainable Development policy of the World Heritage Convention were discussed in a side event at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Istanbul on 12 July 2016.

Organised by the “Our Common Dignity” initiative and the Research project “World Heritage and Rights Practice in Asia-Pacific” supported by the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS), the workshop sought to identify challenges and opportunities to strengthen rights-based approaches.

The side event sought to present the scope of approaches and recent activities, including the analysis of case-studies from the Asia-Pacific region, experiences from the Okavango Delta and the outcomes of the Round Table organised by ICOMOS Australia in October 2015. The Advisory Bodies (ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN) are working towards raising awareness of the rights dimension in heritage practices and providing training opportunities for professionals. The Caux Call for Action and other policy briefs can be downloaded from the SNIS project website. A status report from the “Our Common Dignity” initiative is expected to be published in October 2016.

For further information:

SNIS Research project “World Heritage and Rights Practice in Asia-Pacific”

The “Our Common Dignity” Initiative