Former ARCH Intern Has Great Advice for UNESCO

By: Olivia de Dreuzy

Earlier in 2017 I was very lucky to participate in UNESCO’s 10th Youth Forum with 60 other young people at the Paris headquarters. Representing youth from all regions of the world, the Forum was a unique opportunity to discuss issues pertinent to UNESCO’s mandate with both youth and UNESCO professionals themselves. Having started my own heritage career right here with ARCH International five years ago, this three-day conference solidified my decision to have dived head first into the world of heritage preservation and cultural policy.

The 2017 Forum’s theme was to “Rethink Youth Engagement with UNESCO” to better ensure that youth who are leading change in their communities are treated as partners and not beneficiaries to the work of UNESCO. Through this platform, the sixty of us compiled various recommendations concerning themes ranging from countering violent extremism and improving education access for vulnerable populations to innovating water security and safeguarding heritage.

Having volunteered with a small group of refugee artists resettled to Amsterdam who co-curate exhibitions and workshops, I came to the Forum with ideas concerning how heritage and the arts can be positively utilised in the integration of refugees into host communities. This experience also followed the completion of my Master’s thesis that analysed arts therapy in refugee shelters and their role in creating more welcoming host communities in Greece.
With this background, I joined a small group of other young cultural leaders to outline recommendations for UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre. We tackled questions of how youth can become more effective cultural ambassadors in both catalysing socio-economic development and in safeguarding cultural heritage. To achieve these goals, we found it imperative that a “UNESCO’s Youth” network be created as well as provided a seat at the table within all UNESCO committees, consultations and meetings. To allow this, the capacity of all National Commissions for UNESCO must also be further increased to catalyse projects and ideas led by youth in the field of cultural heritage.
The most inspiring part of this Youth Forum was to sit next to so many young people actively designing and shaping these projects and ideas in the field of cultural heritage. My small group alone had leaders of projects that use art to transform marginalized neighborhoods in Bogota, Colombia to teaching the endangered, traditional music and dance of Borneo.

Our recommendations, outlined specifically to further support these projects and the many other youth led initiatives, have since been presented at the 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference back in October 2017. After this experience, I can only hope that so many other large institutions, governments and organizations follow in these footsteps and look to youth to independently make substantial contributions and lasting impacts to the field of cultural heritage.

Olivia de Dreuzy
odedreuzy@gmail.com

Former Intern at ARCH
Arts and Culture Programme Specialist at the World Economic Forum

 

Below are some photos from UNESCO’s 10th Youth Forum; click on each photo to view full-size: