Philadelphia Delegation Meets with the OWHC in Amsterdam

This past November, the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) held its regional conference for Northern Europe and North American World Heritage cities in Amsterdam, Netherlands. During the conference, the attendees discussed global strategies and future efforts for World Heritage cities. In attendance, Global Philadelphia Association’s Executive Director Zabeth Teelucksingh and Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia Paul Steinke represented the city of Philadelphia.

Steinke reflected, “The trip provided valuable insights on World Heritage member cities around the world and how they manage and promote the important World Heritage sites that they maintain.”  A World Heritage site creates value for a city’s economic growth and enhances tourism to key global destinations. Additionally, it emphasizes the significance of the host country in maintaining, protecting, and conserving their World Heritage sites for future generations.

At the conference, Teelucksingh and Steinke presented on Philadelphia’s efforts in the historic region of the city (Independence Hall, Carpenter’s Hall, etc.) and discussed opportunities to expand heritage tourism beyond the center of our city. They also discussed long-term plans, including increasing tourism to provide more visibility to all key historical sites throughout our region.

From June 2 – 6, 2019, the OWHC World Congress will take place in Krakow, Poland, and Global Philadelphia Association (GPA) is organizing a delegation to attend this conference. For any organizations or members of GPA who are interested in joining, Steinke said that being part of these trips and representing your city is “exciting and valuable to see what others around the world are doing to address the issues surrounding heritage conservation.”

For more information about attending the OWHC World Congress conference this summer, please contact Zabeth Teelucksingh at 215-563-2482 or zabeth.teelucksingh@globalphiladelphia.org. 

(Photo: From left, Zabeth Teelucksingh, Vice Mayor of Amsterdam Touria Meliani, responsible for arts, culture, and the digital city, and Paul Steinke) 

Article written by Kyle Purchase on behalf of Global Philadelphia Association