Global young masters of cultural heritage skills wanted

The "World Heritage Young Masters" three-year action plan was jointed launched yesterday by UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, Suzhou Gardening and Greening Bureau, and Suzhou Center of World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO, in a bid to promote the inheritance of cultural heritage and inspire the younger generation's creativity in cultural heritage conservation.

The application for the 2025 Asia-Pacific World Heritage Young Masters is open through Mar. 31. Themed "Conservation, Innovation and Sustainable Development" this year, the program highlights innovative cultural heritage conservation practices led or co-led by young practitioners. Applicants must be under 45 years old and engaged in cultural heritage conservation in the Asian-Pacific region, such as managers and researchers at key historical and cultural sites, architects, landscape designers, intangible cultural heritage inheritors, and researchers at universities. They must submit a case study of a heritage conservation project focusing on wooden structures in the past 10 years, including restoration, expansion, reconstruction, and new constructions within historical cities and towns, traditional buildings, cultural landscapes, and cultural routes.

A panel of global experts in cultural heritage will review applicants' qualifications and projects. Candidates must have led or played a key role in an innovative project in their country or region and actively contributed to cultural heritage conservation and innovation. The evaluation criteria include sustainability, the inheritance of and innovation in traditional construction skills, community engagement, and the advancement of local cultural policies or cross-regional communication.

The results will be open for public review from Apr. 21 to 30. Finalists will be invited to participate in the first Asia-Pacific World Heritage Young Masters Exchange in Suzhou from May 23 to 26, where academic discussions and exchanges on cultural heritage conservation, especially innovative approaches to protection of traditional structures, will be held.
Outstanding projects will be featured in an exhibition on innovative cultural heritage cases, and selected participants will receive the honorary title of "Asia-Pacific World Heritage Young Master." Exceptional cases will be promoted as regional models, contributing valuable insights to global heritage conservation.

For more details, please visit the official WeChat account or contact the organizers via email at jgzx_gjjl@hotmail.com.
Source：iSuzhou