Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Edmondo Cirielli opened today, upon instructions of Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, and together with Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO Ernesto Ottone and Mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi, the UNESCO Conference “Cultural Heritage in the 21st Century.
Co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Culture and UNESCO, with the contribution of the City of Naples, the Conference, which was opened by a message of greetings from the President of the Republic, will bring together more than two hundred representatives and experts from the Member States of the Paris-based organization.
Deputy Minister Cirielli underlined that “culture has always represented a message and an instrument of peace capable of building bridges for coexistence and from Naples, with UNESCO, Italy confirms its firm commitment to place cultural diplomacy at the centre of its foreign policy action, making available its know-how, such as those of the Carabinieri Command for the protection of heritage”, also demonstrated by the support offered to Ukraine in the registration of Odessa on the World Heritage List”.
As stated by Minister Sangiuliano “for three days, the city of Naples, the capital of culture for its history, tradition, uniqueness of its beauty and heritage, will also be the capital of global cultural diplomacy with the presence of delegations from 194 UNESCO member nations. The works will be concluded with the approval of a common Charter, called the “Spirit of Naples”, a document that will remain in history and will bear the name of our city. Great challenges lie ahead. We are ready to collect them.”
As stated by Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, “UNESCO has a strong belief that culture has tremendous potential to enable sustainable development and peacebuilding. This conference will address the transformative power of culture, its ability to bring us together in our diversity, to unite us in our common humanity. It will also be the place to discuss numerous challenges to be met, such as adaptation to climate change and the prevention of overtourism. UNESCO is pleased that this important event is organized in Naples, a European city with an exceptional heritage protected for a long time by our Organization.”
The Mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, stated: “It is a great honour and source of pride for us to host this UNESCO Conference in Naples with the Italian Ministers of Culture and Foreign Affairs and numerous delegates from all over the world. As a Municipal Administration, we are strongly committed to protecting and enhancing the historic centre of Naples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The imposition of restrictions on restaurant and catering activities, adopted by a special resolution which has also been validated by the judiciary, goes in this direction. It is our parallel duty to also defend the intangible heritage of our city, i.e. the citizens themselves, from the excesses of mass tourism, the processes of which we are all called upon to govern together with the community and the institutions. From here, from Naples, a shared and innovative signal is launched.”
The goal of the UNESCO Conference, held at Italy’s initiative, is to start reflecting and adopt global measures on a more integrated protection of the Natural, Cultural and Intangible Heritage of Humanity included in the UNESCO Lists and on measures to better face the challenges posed to the Heritage by global phenomena such as urbanization, over-tourism, climate change and conflicts. The Conference will focus on the protection and broader enhancement of the Heritage of non-European countries, especially in Africa, which today is underrepresented in terms of UNESCO Heritage recognized to countries on the continent.
UNESCO Director General Azoulay, Deputy Prime Minister Tajani and Culture Minister Sangiuliano will close the Conference on Wednesday afternoon with the adoption of a “Call for Action.” This is a policy document containing a list of recommendations and best practices addressed to UNESCO Member States for more efficient protection of Heritage, fine-tuned thanks to the work of the experts gathered as from today at Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) in Naples.