The director of the Talayotic Menorca Agency, Antoni Ferrer, represented Talayotic Menorca at the 9th Iberian Meeting of World Heritage Managers, held in the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, Portugal, on 16 and 17 September. This event, which
brings together experts from Spain and Portugal, is an important space for reflection and collaboration for those in charge of the management of properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Organised jointly by the National Commission of Unesco, Patrimonio Cultural I. P., and Parques de Sintra-Monte da Lua S. A., the meeting has established itself as a key forum for the analysis, exchange of experiences and promotion of good practices in the protection, conservation and enhancement of cultural and natural heritage. Alternating between the two countries, these meetings allow specialists to share their knowledge and jointly face the challenges presented by the conservation and sustainability of protected sites.
In this edition, which coincides with the anniversaries of important international agreements such as the Venice Charter (1964), the Nara Document on Authenticity (1994) and the Florence Declaration (2014), the debates focused on three main themes: conservation, authenticity and sustainability of World Heritage sites.
For Talayotic Menorca, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2023, participation in this meeting is of great relevance, as it offers the opportunity to learn first-hand about examples of good management, in order to improve the conservation of our exceptional heritage and strengthen our commitment to the universal values that Unesco defends. According to Antoni Ferrer, ‘it is crucial to participate in these spaces for dialogue in order to
direct the conservation and promotion strategies of Talayotic Menorca towards the best international practices; but also to make our heritage known within the academic and institutional spheres’.
Holding this meeting in Sintra, one of Portugal's most emblematic cultural landscapes, highlights the importance of Iberian cooperation in the preservation of World Heritage. For Talayotic Menorca, being part of this network of managers is another step towards becoming a benchmark in the protection and enhancement of archaeological heritage, not only locally, but also in the international context.
The director of the Agency presented a communication, in which he explained the importance of the landscape in Talayotic Menorca; the regulatory tools that exist to guarantee its conservation and the initiatives that are being prepared by the Consell Insular de Menorca in relation to this subject.