The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is calling for nominations to the 2022 World Monuments Watch, with submissions accepted until 1 May.
… Every two-year cycle of the Watch includes 25 heritage places…
… ultimate goal …. to improve human well-being through cultural heritage preservation…
World Monuments Fund writes:
The World Monuments Watch, or “the Watch,” is a two-year program that seeks to discover, spotlight, and take action on behalf of heritage places facing challenges or presenting outstanding opportunities of direct relevance to our global society. Every two-year cycle of the Watch includes 25 heritage places from around the world, selected for their cultural significance, the cause for action in light of internationally pressing issues, and the potential for World Monuments Fund to make a meaningful difference. Through the Watch, WMF collaborates with local partners to design and implement targeted conservation programs—including advocacy, planning, education, and physical interventions in the historic built environment. The ultimate goal of the program since its inception has been to improve human well-being through cultural heritage preservation. As the core program of World Monuments Fund, the Watch is the main way through which WMF engages with new partners and pursues new opportunities for collaboration.
The 2022 Watch
The 2022 cycle of the Watch is taking place amidst circumstances that have revealed the profound interconnectedness of our world. In its global spread the Covid-19 pandemic has brought tragic loss of life and livelihood and continues to disrupt the functioning of many societies. In challenging the well-being of communities, the pandemic has also upset the operations of heritage places while bringing about drastic reductions in the resources available to them. More broadly, Covid-19 has laid bare the dependence of heritage protection on mass tourism and the tourism economy in so many parts of the world, pointing to the need for greater destination resilience. In its disruptive effects around the world, the pandemic resembles other looming challenges, including global climate change and its real and anticipated impacts. And critically, the world’s connectedness has also been made visible in the transnational spread of calls for equity and justice in public space, the landmarks that it encompasses, and the narratives that they represent. The most competitive nominations to the 2022 Watch will illuminate and propose innovative ways to address these challenges or point to other challenges and opportunities that are emerging.
We are looking for nominations with clear potential to respond to the global challenges of climate change, imbalanced tourism, and the need to amplify underrepresented voices and cultural narratives.
Underrepresented Heritage
Recent events across the globe have laid bare the fact that certain groups have not only been overlooked, but actively excluded from representation in public space and in decision-making about what should be preserved and how. We seek nominations that raise the voices of the unheard and spotlight heritage that remains underrepresented.
Climate Change
Communities everywhere are confronting climate change and its ability to impact the heritage places they value. At the same time, cultural heritage is playing a role in our global response, from mitigation to adaption and beyond. We seek nominations that illuminate the many ways heritage interacts with climate change.
Imbalanced Tourism
Tourism brings positive and negative side effects for heritage places and their communities, often raising serious challenges for society. We seek nominations that present innovative strategies for addressing the impact of imbalanced tourism on heritage places and their communities.
For background see the NewsBlog
