2022 Suwon World Heritage Cities Forum to Be Held on Sept. 29-30

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] The '2022 Suwon World Heritage Cities Forum' will be held at Suwon Convention Center over September 29-30 under the theme of 'Sustainable Utilization of World Heritage Cities.'

The forum is being organized by Suwon City, a leader in the world heritage sector, to enhance urban brand value and explore ways to develop the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) industry in Suwon.

The forum is hosted by Suwon City and Suwon Convention Center, and sponsored by the Cultural Heritage Administration, Korea Tourism Organization, Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, UNESCO Korea Commission, ICOMOS Korea Committee, and the Asia-Pacific Regional Office of the Organization of World Heritage Cities.

The second edition of the forum since last year will be conducted as a 'Public Forum' (Sept. 29) and an 'Expert Forum' (Sept. 30). The public forum will address world heritage city stories that create new attractions by combining with various fields, while the expert forum will share world heritage utilization cases and policies from each city.

The forum will begin with an opening ceremony at 1 p.m. on September 29. The public forum on the first day will start with a keynote address by Professor Choi Jae-heon from the Department of Geography at Konkuk University on the theme of 'Sustainable World Heritage Cities and Local Communities,' followed by sessions on △World Heritage and Content (Noh Jin-young, broadcasting writer) △World Heritage and Fashion (Kim Young-jin, CEO of CHAE KIM) △World Heritage and Corporate Marketing (Hwang Geum-sik, Senior Manager of LG Electronics ID Business Division), which will include presentations and panel discussions.

Panel discussions will include Kim Tae-young, CEO of Roma Ro; Seo Jung-sun, CEO of The Festival; Lee Je-woo, CEO of Hana Tour ITC (World Heritage and New Forms of Tourism); Lee Jong-gi, pop art artist; Lim Young-gyun, world heritage specialist photographer; Choo Mi-kyung, CEO of Culture-Daum (World Heritage as Inspiration for Cultural Content); Seo Bong-hyun, CEO of INS Entertainment; An Jae-hong, visiting professor at KAIST; and Lee Chang-geun, director of Heritage Curation Institute (World Heritage Combined with Technology).

The expert forum on the second day will be conducted as sessions featuring keynote presentations and panel discussions by domestic and international world cultural heritage experts.

In the first session, Randy Durband, CEO of the International Sustainable Tourism Committee, will present on 'Cases of Co-Development Between Cities and Cultural Heritage,' and Robert Piaskowski, Cultural Plenipotentiary of Krakow, Poland; Kim Ji-hong, official from the Cultural Heritage Administration; and Sim Hye-ri, specialist at UNESCO's International Center for the Interpretation and Presentation of World Heritage Sites, will hold a panel discussion on 'The Importance of Coexistence and Interpretation Between Cities and Cultural Heritage.'

In the second session, An Tae-wook, specialist committee member of the Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, will present on 'New Ways to Experience Korea's World Heritage,' and Ming Chee Ang, branch director of Georgetown World Cultural Heritage Authority in Penang, Malaysia; Kim Ji-hyun, senior specialist at UNESCO; Lee Gwi-young, director of Baekje World Heritage Center; and Chae Hui-rak, deputy director of Suwon Cultural Foundation, will hold a panel discussion on 'New Utilization Methods for Cultural Heritage.'

Robert Piaskowski, Cultural Plenipotentiary of Krakow, Poland, and Ming Chee Ang, branch director of Georgetown World Cultural Heritage Authority in Penang, Malaysia, will participate in the discussion online.

The forum will conclude with recommendations by Professor Shin Hee-kwon from the Department of Korean History at Seoul City University on the theme of 'Sustainable Tourism and World Heritage Cities.' Subsidiary events including 'Haengung-dong Tour' and 'Haengung Coffee Travelogue' (September 29) and 'Hwaseong Haengung Tour' and 'Smart Tourism City Implementation Project Briefing' (September 30) will also be held.

Pre-registration for the 2022 Suwon World Heritage Cities Forum can be completed on the official website (http://heritagesuwon.or.kr), and participants can attend the forum. Subsidiary events can be separately applied for by pre-registered participants only.