Punjab Post Daily Online Newspaper & Print Media
Amritsar, 20 April (Punjab Post Bureau) – To celebrate the World Heritage Day, the Centre for Sustainable Habitat 
of Guru Nanak Dev University organized an International Webinar on the theme ‘Heritage Management and Sustainable Habitat’.
The webinar was chaired by Professor Dr. Ashwani Luthra, Coordinator of Centre for Sustainable Habitat. In his introductory remarks Professor Luthra said that the United Nations in its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development acknowledged the effective contribution of Heritage Management in the making of Sustainable Habitats by strengthening efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage in target 11.4 towards making cities safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. However, while the UN fell short of dedicating an entire Goal to Heritage Management among its 17 SDGs, it has led to the global movement of promoting cultural heritage as an enabler and driver of sustainable development. Prof. Luthra stressed upon a people-centered approach to heritage management in the broader frame work of Sustainable Habitat.
The webinar Panel consisted of speakers of international repute- Dr.EgeYilidrim from Turkey was the Key Speaker, and Dennis Rodwell from UK, Dr. Francesca Giliberto from Italy and Gurmeet S Rai, India, were the distinguished speakers, who discussed and deliberated upon the interface between heritage and sustainable development to deliberate upon the five areas of critical importance – People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership. ‘leaving no one behind’, the under lying concept of UN Agenda 2030 was brought forth and in this regard how sustainable heritage management can be a key. Harnessing of heritage is crucial to address global challenges and to ensure a sustainable habitat for all.Contrast was made between heritage and culture, while heritage can be elitist, culture is all inclusive. It was important to beyond the World Heritage Siteand the UNESCO World Heritage Convention is much more than just the WH List. It was brought forth that how this is supported by the Historic Urban Landscape approach.It was reaffirmed that in line with UN SDGs city of Amritsar was founded on principles of inclusion andPlurarismbeing its foundational value. The Webinar was attended by participants from across the globe, Poland, Algeria, the USA, Germany, China, Pakistan, Philippines, Spain, South Africa, Brazil and Cyprus to name a few.
The final remarks were made by Moderator of the Webinar, Jana Das Chaudhuri, Heritage Management Specialist, who highlighted the urgent need to review, deliberate and research, to strategise heritage management for urban planning and urban development that place culture not only as the fourth pillar of sustainable development but the central pillar of the sustainable development Goals and the vital role that the Centre for Sustainable Habitat can play in taking this. In vote of thanks Prof. Luthra expressed his gratitude to Dr. Jaspal Singh Sandh, the Hon’ble Vice Chancellor and GNDU and thanked Prof. S.S Behl Nodal officer RUSA for making it all possible.
