From 7 to 13 July 2021, the fourth edition of the World Heritage Site Managers' Forum on the theme 'World Heritage Governance - Being prepared to manage change and continuity' was held online. A forum that brought together over 90 participants from 85 World Heritage sites. Carlo Francini, as site manager of the Historic Centre of Florence, also participated, making a contribution on the theme of sustainable tourism, climate change and the role of the site manager in relation to these issues. In addition, the presentation introduced the preparation document of the Management and Sustainability Plan, a strategic tool developed also in the context of the European project atlas.WH.
The principal theme, “World Heritage governance - being prepared to manage change and continuity”, covered a variety of topics focused on strengthening inclusive and equitable governance arrangements for effective management at the site level. Over five days, participants discussed who should be involved in change preparation by looking at the wide range of rights-holders, communities and stakeholders that should be involved in managing and decision-making. The Forum centred around the heritage place approach, based on managing places of heritage values beyond their designated heritage boundaries and by involving a diversity of people and stakeholders.

A video and the statement of the World Heritage Sites managers Forum are available on the following link:

https://whc.unesco.org/en/whsmf2021/