Call for Entries: UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2024

The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation (‘Awards’) recognizes exemplary efforts by individuals and organizations in the region to restore or conserve structures, places or properties of heritage value. By bringing to public attention such distinguished achievements, the Awards programme seeks to foster best practices and inspire others to undertake similar projects within the region’s diverse communities, whether property owners choose to pursue conservation projects independently or through public-private partnerships.

The project will focus on achieving the following main following results:

• Identification and promotion of exemplary practices in the heritage conservation through the UNESCO Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation with increased participation from under-represented areas (East Asia, Central Asia, and Pacific countries) and a wide representation of various forms of heritage;
• Improved exchange of research and professional practice related to heritage;
• Capacity building in heritage conservation using the exemplars and standards of the UNESCO Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation;
• Improved engagement of youth, both professionals and the public, in protecting and promoting cultural heritage;
• Improved knowledge management of Asian heritage, including regional best practices from the UNESCO Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, through video, online and print formats.

Award and Frequency

• The Awards, which are established for an indeterminate period, shall be awarded on an annual basis.
• The Awards shall consist of a number of winners to be determined by the Jury in the following categories:
  • Award of Excellence, which demonstrates exceptional achievement in all criteria and has a major catalytic impact at the national or regional level;
  • Award of Distinction, which demonstrates outstanding achievement in all criteria and has a significant impact at the national or regional level;
  • Award of Merit, which demonstrates superior achievement in all criteria;
  • Special Recognition for Sustainable Development, which demonstrates noteworthy achievement in all criteria and has a significant impact in contributing to sustainable development.
• Each Award winner will receive a plaque.
• Certificates of recognition will be presented to all parties included on the entry form.
• The format and number of the Awards may be varied from time to time at the discretion of UNESCO and the Jury.
• The Awards will be made out in the name stated in the project entry form.

Eligibility for the Awards

• The following are eligible for consideration: residential, commercial and institutional buildings; religious properties; urban and rural settlements, historic towns and villages; archaeological heritage; cultural landscapes, parks and gardens; military properties; modern heritage; agricultural, industrial and technological properties; burial monuments and sites; cultural routes; vernacular architecture; and symbolic properties and memorials.
• The project must be the result of private sector initiative or public-private partnership. The involvement of private individuals or organizations in terms of ownership, tenancy, financing or other contributions to the project should be clear. Projects that are financed, owned and undertaken wholly by government entities are not eligible.
• The work must have been completed within the preceding 10 years at the time of submission. For buildings with a new use, the project must also have been occupied or put to viable use for at least one year at the time of submission.
• Entries that have been previously submitted will not be eligible for resubmission unless invited to do so by the Jury, or unless substantial additional restoration has been carried out since the previous submission.
• Projects that are submitted for consideration to the new design category of the UNESCO Heritage Awards in the same year are not eligible for submission for the conservation category. Projects submitted to both categories will be disqualified.

For more information, visit UNESCO.