The inaugural ICCROM-BFU Heritage and Landscape Conservation Conference 2024 was held at Beijing Forestry University on October 19th, representing China's first international academic gathering in this domain.

Li Xiong, Vice President of BFU, noted that China has significantly intensified its efforts in preserving natural and cultural heritage, thereby enhancing its influence and sharing its perspectives within the global conservation community. He highlighted that BFU has developed a substantial multi-disciplinary foundation in both the education and research related to natural and cultural heritage and landscape conservation. 

Li also expressed enthusiasm for fostering deeper and more comprehensive collaborations with an array of heritage sites, management bodies, research institutions, and experts in heritage conservation through the partnership with ICCROM.

Li Rusheng, President of the Chinese Society of Landscape Architecture, congratulated on the opening of the conference. He emphasized the society’s deep commitment to heritage and landscape conservation, including actively promoting the nomination of Chinese landscape gardens for heritage recognition and regularly hosting discussions on national parks, cultural landscapes, and heritage conservation. 

Li said that the society plans to initiate various strategies to encourage the landscape architecture in China to contribute to the sustainable development of the nation’s natural characteristics and cultural heritage.

During his keynote address, Zhang Jie, Vice President Professor of ICOMOS CHINA, highlighted the close ties and collaborations with international bodies. He expressed hope for increased international cooperation in heritage research and a strong desire to advance the protection of heritage through investigations into the nexus between culture and nature.

At the conference, the International Joint Laboratory for Heritage and Landscape Conservation was established. This collaborative initiative, a first of its kind in China in this field, is the result of a partnership between the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the School of Landscape Architecture, BFU. Associate Professor Cao Xin, a heritage conservation expert from BFU, has been appointed as the director for the Chinese side, with Eugene Jo, who leads the World Heritage Leadership Program, representing ICCROM.

Spanning from October 19th to 21st, the conference, attended by leaders from BFU, ICCROM, IUCN, ICOMOS, UNESCO, Chinese Society of Landscape Architecture and other institutions, attracted over 300 global scholars and managers specializing in heritage studies, including more than 60 distinguished guests from 23 countries. 

Written by Cao Xin
Translated and edited by Song He
Reviewed by Yu Yangyang