Protecting the Heritage of Mankind - a Challenge for University Education

Protecting the heritage of mankind - a challenge for university education

Marie-Theres Albert

Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University of Lisbon, 11-14 September 2002

- Introduction

- Challenges of globalisation

- Cultural diversity within the globalisation process

- Qualifications – a masters degree in World Heritage Studies

- Setting up the programme

- Internationalisation

- Interdisciplinary ethos

- Curriculum development

- Graduates

- Conclusion

2018／4／7 1 Introduction

It is thirty years since November 1972, when UNESCO’s General Assembly adopted the convention in order to protect and preserve natural and cultural assets of all types and all areas.

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Today, 730 monuments in 125 countries have been placed under protection. Of these, 563 are cultural monuments, 144 are natural monuments and a further 23 are classified as belonging to the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

Optimistically, perhaps, it can be said, that protecting heritage of mankind has become a concern of all peoples.

Or, in other words: the globalisation that has taken place in the field of science and economics has now successfully been implemented on the cultural level.

How could it be otherwise, since the global processes underpinning science and economics would not have been possible without the contribution of the cultures of the world?

Despite the numerous problematic effects of globalisation, it has also triggered a whole series of positive developments in the context of world heritage.

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Globalisation has contributed to the internationalization of the convention and at the same time to the protection of our cultural and natural heritage being seen as an interdisciplinary and international task.

The international World Heritage Masters Course addressed this concern. The course has been running at the Brandenburg Technical University of Cottbus since the winter term 1999/2000. It has been

2018／4／7 2 implemented in order to deal with the interdisciplinary and intercultural challenges of globalisation.

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World Heritage Studies is a Master Course that is supported by UNESCO and partly financed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

It addresses students from all over the world, who hold an university degree ideally in: archaeology, architecture, preservation of historic buildings and monuments, design, educational science, ethnology, history, history of art, ecology, economics, political science, sociology, etc..

World Heritage Studies is a study course, which pursues a new path in university education and research. Therefore I would like to take the opportunity to present it here.

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Within my presentation I would like to sketch some essential subjects. The study course is based on a modular structure which considers the basic elements of the convention which are material culture, nonmaterial culture and nature.

2018／4／7 3 Challenges of globalisation

Global recognition of the convention was accompanied by demands for international and innovative standards for protection. On the other hand, the concept had to hold up in the face of increased use of the heritage sites by tourism.

However because the more rapidly the idea of world heritage as a “unique asset worthy of protection” spread, the more attractive it also became for the tourist industry.

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It is vital that modern protection concepts incorporate use concepts and that these use concepts be appraised in the light of sustainability. All approaches to this must aim to be interdisciplinary. Globalisation has thus created a setting for the protection and use of world heritage that simply did not exist in 1972 when the Convention was adopted.

Any attempt by universities to engage with world heritage must integrate these challenges. It is important that the identification, protection and preservation of world heritage be accompanied by thoughts on its use.

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It is also important that its historical value should be balanced by its dynamic function.

And furthermore the function of heritage for individuals must also be defined. Here, too, there has been a major development in thinking since the convention was adopted.

Globalisation today is the result of the third industrial revolution. Global communication and information systems have not only affected the development of industry, including flows of goods and finance, they have

2018／4／7 4 also had a direct and indirect impact on the cultures of the world and on cultural identities.

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In the light of these developments, the idea that the heritage of mankind can begin to play a part in creating identity. Heritage is a constituent part of identity and mankind’s cultural heritage provides points of reference that enable us to connect to our own history.

Reflection on this connection makes it possible to transpose historical experiences into projective action and in this way to use it to deal with everyday life.

2018／4／7 5 Cultural diversity within the globalisation process

I would like to quote the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, who said in an interview with UNESCO: "the best about the world is the diversity of the contained universes". And the conservation of this diversity is a challenge for the future (Eduardo Galeano, 2001: 64).

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Important components of the universe’s diversity are the natural heritage with its biodiversity, the cultural heritage as a material heritage and the nonmaterial heritage.

The protection of the cultural goods, as well as of natural goods, is of use for the peoples of the world, to manage the present time and to shape the future.

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The preservation of natural, cultural and intangible heritage of all kinds and all eras has therefore been declared as a task for all human beings by UNESCO.

In the World Heritage Studies, these assignments are interpreted and embodied in the curriculum as an epistemological basis.

Furthermore the worldwide globalisation processes are included, as well as the demands of the Agenda 21 and the report of the "World Commission on Culture and Development" of 1994 (Pérez de Cuellar: 1998).

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The interdisciplinary programme shows access for the students to socio- economic and ecological, to cultural and political problems that are connected with the preservation of World Heritage. It furthermore imparts

2018／4／7 6 insights into scientific-technical concepts and concepts for the preservation of historic buildings and monuments, too.

The heritage of mankind shall be made accessible to broad sections of the world's population and be sustainably used as a resource. This is one of the major objectives of this study course. Also with respect to its target groups – students from all over the world and especially from countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America – the study course meets these dimensions.

2018／4／7 7 Qualifications – a masters degree in World Heritage Studies

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In the global world, the demands placed on a future-oriented interpretation of world heritage have intensified. I would like to illustrate some possible avenues that can be explored to this end.

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As an innovative degree course with a model character. There are links with the management of German and international world heritage sites, with international partner universities and with national and international organisations.

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The official title of the degree course is World Heritage Studies. After a normal course duration of two years, students may be awarded a Master of Arts (M.A.). The target number of students is 40 per year. Students may begin the course in the summer or winter semester.

2018／4／7 8 Setting up the programme

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And as I mentioned at the beginning of this paper, the globalisation of the economy, science and culture, the increased mobility, and the development of international tourism have contributed to increasing global acceptance of the protection and preservation of mankind’s heritage.

This acceptance, along with the need for young people with appropriate academic qualifications is the bases for setting up this degree course. The increasing interest in the course has confirmed this. Nowadays we have more than 700 application forms yearly.

The introduction of the degree course in world heritage studies is based on the following considerations:

 The necessity to integrate global science and technology with global culture

 The innovative power of world heritage for international understanding.

 The increasing need for trained professionals to work in the field of world heritage protection.

 The demands for interdisciplinary know-how in questions of preservation, development and use of world heritage.

 Use of participation concepts to promote consciousness-raising and awareness of culture and cultural identity.

 The need for national experts with interdisciplinary skills and the ability to link material and non-material culture and nature in the global context.

2018／4／7 9 Internationalisation

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The setting up of this masters programme arose from the need to internationalise the German higher education system. This is expressed in a number of measures:

 The high proportion of foreign students are yearly, 80%. They ensure a transfer of knowledge.

 By offering a range of courses that are 91 % in English and the acquisition of an internationally comparable degree – a Master of Arts taught through the medium of English.

 The network of international organisations and partner universities gives the course contents an international orientation, so that it takes into account local, regional and national developments in research and teaching styles.

 By identifying research topics in the context of the convention on the protection and preservation of world heritage, the network thus facilitates both the development of universal categories for the preservation of culture and nature and also an insight into unique local, regional and national characteristics.

2018／4／7 10 Interdisciplinary ethos

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The interdisciplinary ethos of the course has been developed in interaction and cooperation with the innovative potential of basic subjects and an institutional framework of related disciplines.

 The cultural and natural assets defined in the world heritage convention have been combined in the modular curriculum that has a vertical and horizontal structure.

 Interdisciplinary teaching and research have been brought together in the modules themselves. Students and teaching staff are obliged to confront within the modules not only the ideas and methods of their own subject but also to reorganise their own academic practice and relate it to the overriding interest of knowledge

 Different disciplinary experiences have been consolidated in the context of identified heritage sites and defined protection and preservation measures. The students learn that technological innovations alone can never ensure sustainable protection and preservation concepts, but that any concept put forward must be accepted by and anchored in society.

2018／4／7 11 Curriculum development

Most of the teaching units in the world heritage studies degree course have been designed from scratch. This took account of what is necessary in terms of the graduate profile and what is possible in terms of availability of existing departments within the university.

The idea was originally taken forward by a small group of people and the necessary applications filed. The broad-based curriculum was progressively developed to reflect the topics required by the convention on the protection and preservation of heritage.

In designing the modules, available staff from the faculties of architecture, civil engineering and urban planning and the faculty of environmental sciences and process technology at the university and the university centre for technology and society were recruited.

Later there was a discussion about management competence with colleagues from the degree course in industrial engineering and with UNESCO.

The wishes of the international partners were also taken into account. Further discussions with UNESCO representatives were also held during the curriculum refinement phase. They were called upon both as consultants and external lecturers.

2018／4／7 12 Graduates

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The graduate profile arises from the need for a new generation of people with academic qualifications to work in the context of the activities of the international community. It also arises from the requirements placed on a modern university course to train candidates for senior posts who have solid subject-based knowledge and interdisciplinary skills.

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The idea is that graduates from the international masters course in world heritage studies should be capable of recognising and theoretically understanding economic, social and cultural processes in the international arena, as a function of the cultural heritage of a nation, a landscape or an ethnic group.

They should have the ability to familiarise themselves with the specific problems of different cultures, in order to evaluate specific cultural and natural monuments.

They should be able to develop concepts for preserving heritage sites and placing them in a regional, national or international context.

This profile requires a broad range of knowledge, as well as different skills and abilities.

The students must have an abstract understanding of the historical, aesthetic, cultural, technical and ecological characteristics of cultural and natural monuments as well as the theoretical and methodological knowledge to be able to classify them appropriately.

They also need basic technical knowledge about the preservation and protection of cultural and natural heritage sites. At the same time, they 2018／4／7 13 need systematic and analytical skills, management ability and the skills to mediate different interests.

They receive a sound theoretical training and are able to identify cultural, natural, technological and scientific approaches and recognise commonalities and differences. Last but not least, students learn to identify, develop and obtain commissions for research projects in the field of world heritage.

2018／4／7 14 Conclusion

Cultural globalisation means that mankind’s heritage and ways of developing it for future use has had to face new demands, including initial and ongoing training requirements. Responding to these demands by setting up the World Heritage Studies programme was the challenge we were faced in 1999. Today we can say that we reached our goals.

Thank you very much.

2018／4／7 15 Bibliography

Mander, J., Goldsmith, E. (eds.), The case against the global economy, Earthscan Publications, London 2001

Jouhy, E., Bleiche Herrschaft – Dunkle Kulturen, Frankfurt/ M. 1985

Mittelstraß, J., Konstanzer Blätter für Hochschulfragen no. 26, 1989

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