Revitalising Historical Cities symposium to be hosted by Ballarat

 

Federation University Australia, the City of Ballarat and Deakin University will host Ballarat’s second Symposium on UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape on 20-21 February.

Drawing together expert international and local speakers including Dr Ron van Oers (WHITRAP) and Dr Rohit Jigyasu (UNESCO Chair professor Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto,) the symposium will consist of multidisciplinary sessions on a range on Historic Urban Landscapes (HUL) themes and issues.

The symposium will also include a community event on Saturday 21 February, where community members are invited to discuss their vision for the future of Ballarat and change in their local areas.

A new Historic Urban Landscapes website, also the result of collaborations between the City of Ballarat and Federation University Australia, will be launched.

The important discussions which will emerge from this symposium will help guide Ballarat’s Historic Urban Landscape pilot program and contribute to the implementation of the Ballarat Strategy – a long-term road map for the future of Ballarat.

Ballarat is widely recognised as one of Australia’s most historic cities. Residents and visitors are well aware of great buildings like those along Sturt Street and other parts of the central city. What the Historic Urban Landscape strategy can do is to help the community in understanding lesser known places which also contribute to the heritage of Ballarat. HUL provides the community with a real involvement in the past and future of our unique city.­­
– Professor Keir Reeves, Federation University Australia

We know from our Ballarat Imagine community surveys that residents place a high value on Ballarat’s heritage, history, distinctive character and lifestyle. The City of Ballarat is committed to making sure that the heritage of Ballarat plays a role in our city as it grows over the next forty years. The Historic Urban Landscape approach means that the city will engage with the community and integrate the things our community loves about Ballarat into future plans. In that way heritage can add value to the quality of life in a rapidly growing Ballarat.
– Cr John Philips, Mayor

Revitalising Historic Citiesis hosted by the City of Ballarat and Federation University Australia; in conjunction with Deakin University’s Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific, the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research in the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (WHITRAP) in Shanghai, and the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).

For more information visit City of Ballarat or  click here.