The Great Silk Road Conference: Historical Roads as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites

From December 5-8, 2022, Kazan hosted an international forum dedicated to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage 50’s anniversary. The Convention has become an important stage in recognizing the world heritage value and uniting all countries supporting this idea. A World Heritage List is being compiled under the auspices of UNESCO, which already includes 1,154 objects of cultural and natural heritage from all around the world. Participants from 56 countries of the world discussed the management of World Cultural Heritage Sites, environmental management and conservation of the World Natural Heritage. A total of 10 scientific conferences were held within the forum.

At The Great Silk Road Conference, a joint report Historical Paths and Roads in the UNESCO World Heritage List was presented by Pavel Shulgin, head of the Center for Comprehensive Regional Programs of Sociocultural Development of the Institute for Social Policy, and Olga Shtele, a leading expert in this Center. The report was based on materials developed with the participation of the Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center in 2022.

      The report noted that such a type of heritage as historical roads has been recognized by many countries in recent decades, and special programs for their preservation and museification are being implemented. In the Russian Federation, which has a huge length and many historical paths, canals, railways, unfortunately, there are practically no museumized historical paths. The authors of the report also listed those Russian historical roads that could be added to the World Heritage List.