“It was really exciting that the participants were to choose the nominations themselves. They studied the Convention, the rules for inscribing sites on the UNESCO list, and were steeped in the subject of the World Heritage sites. Having searched for and selected sites located in their republics, regions, and they presented them and defended them here. It was also a matter of mutual enrichment for all. Participants from 14 regions got to learn about each other,” told the reporters Grigory Ordzhonikidze, the Secretary General of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, Adviser to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Youth Model of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee was held in the form of imitated meetings of the World Heritage Committee debating the questions of inscribing the sites on the World Heritage List.
“Young people need to be taught how to protect and preserve cultural and natural heritage, and this was achieved with the help of the UNESCO youth movement,” declared Mintimer Shaymiev, State Counsellor of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Projects presented by the participants:
1. Raifa Bogoroditsky Monastery (Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan)
2. Petroglyphs of Idris (Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan)
3. “Silava” village (Uray, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra)
4. Tamchinsky datsan – the centre of Buddhism in Russia (Ulan-Ude, Republic of Buryatia)
5. Ufa II settlement (Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan)
6. City of Kasimov (Ryazan)
7. Malaya Sosva State Nature Reserve (Pyt-Yakh, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra)
8. Voskresensk Copper Smelter (Ufa, Tuymazy, Republic of Bashkortostan)
9. Mardzhani Mosque (Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan)
10. Dome Cathedral (Königsberg Cathedral) of Holy Mother and St. Adalbert of Kaliningrad (Kaliningrad)
11. Koporye Fortress (Saint Petersburg)
12. Dormition of the Mother of God Church (Polnovat village, Tyumen region, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra)
13. Pinega karst massif (Arkhangelsk)
14. Wooden architectural ensemble located at Krasnoarmeyskaya St. in Tomsk (Tomsk)
15. VDNKH “Exhibition of Economic Achievements” (Moscow)
16. “State Memorial Architectural Complex – Memorial estate of P.Tchaikovsky”, Votkinsk (Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic)
17. Yurievskaya cave (Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan)
18. Krasnodar Regional Art Museum named after F.Kovalenko (Krasnodar)
19. Petroglyphs of Suruktaah Haya (Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
20. Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral (Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan)
21. “Kostenki“ State Archaeological Museum-Reserve (Voronezh)
22. “Oldenburg Palace Complex“ Historical and Cultural Centre (Voronezh)
On Thursday, 8 December, the UNESCO International Forum for the 50th anniversary of Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage ended in Kazan. The 1972 Convention is one of the most efficient and widely recognised international acts developed under the auspices of UNESCO. For half a century, the World Heritage List has been formed within its framework, that is a list of outstanding cultural and natural sites of universal value and requiring special protection.