UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers 2020-2021 Campaign

The World Heritage Volunteers Initiative is led by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service- CCIVS (WHV global coordinator, regional coordinator for Africa, Arab States and Latin America) and European Heritage Volunteers – as a branch of Open Houses (regional coordinator for Europe) and Better World (regional coordinator for Asia). As such, 55 action camp projects will be implemented from February to December 2021 at 55 World Heritage properties and sites on the Tentative Lists, by 49 organizations in 32 countries around the globe.

WHV 2020-2021 is a joint campaign, a first in the history of the Initiative, as the implementation of the projects under the WHV 2020 campaign was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The projects will provide empowering and enriching opportunities to young people and enable them to go beyond borders to some of the most outstanding places in the world. National and international volunteers will work together with the local communities to preserve our common cultural and natural heritage, through concrete hands-on and awareness-raising activities.

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Rani-ki–Vav is an exceptional example of a distinctive form of subterranean water architecture of the Indian subcontinent, the stepwell. Initially built as a memorial in the 11th century CE, it was constructed as a religious as well as the functional structure and designed as an inverted temple highlighting the sanctity of water.

The project is the pioneer of a nationwide, four site campaign extending the outreach of the first ‘Let’s Heritage’ project run at Rani-ki-Vav in 2017. It aims to promote heritage preservation among youth and local communities, documenting and spreading examples of active participation, stimulating a sense of responsibility and connecting international and local people with the site management and conservation authorities.

The participants will organize and take part in different awareness-raising actions, from heritage walk, heritage classes, quizzes, musical evenings, campfire, exploring local cuisine, paintings and performing arts with local youth, school students and community representatives. They will also prepare a documentary about the camp’s activities to promote the site and youth involvement in heritage protection across different social media platforms. Scheduled visits to various heritage sites across the city, handicrafts and museums. The heritage Talk show will feature experts delivering insights about Indian Heritage.