Florence will host the General Assembly of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in 2014. ICOMOS is a UNESCO non-governmental international organisation dedicated to the conservation of the world’s monuments and sites. The General Assembly will be an event of great international significance and will have a great impact on Italy. Indeed, the Assembly in 2014 will be taking place in the country with the highest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites, and, moreover, during the Italian six-month Presidency of the European Union.
To prepare this important event, the Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry, Michele Valensise, the Secretary General of the Ministry for Culture, Antonia Pasqua Recchia, and the President of ICOMOS Italia, Maurizio Di Stefano, have signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes the arrangements for collaboration between the three bodies concerned.
The Ministry of Culture will help draw up the technical content for the Assembly and provide support from its central and regional offices. Entirely funded from private sponsorship, the event will host over 1000 delegates and be of great interest to tourists and visitors from abroad.
As Secretary General Valensise underscored, “the Farnesina will make its network of embassies, consulates and cultural institutes worldwide available to promote the event. The choice of Italy to host the General Assembly is an important international recognition for Italy and for its cultural leadership. And it is a success for our cultural diplomacy, a key element of Italian foreign policy”.
