Mountaineering is UNESCO World Heritage Site

“Tonight, mountaineering was officially entered in the Representative List of Immaterial Cultural Heritage of Unesco.”

Dario Franceschini, Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, announces that, about the multinational candidature promoted by France, Italy and Switzerland presented in March 2018, emphasises: “We’re proud of this new recognition of UNESCO, that marks a further obligation in promoting the intercultural dialogue and cooperating. It is moreover the demonstration of an increasing attention shown by the MIBACT in the report on the cultural policies, the local communities and the tourist impact.”

The candidature, coordinated by the Office of UNESCO of general secretary of MIBACT that followed the technical preliminary process of negotiation and of international relation, involves at a national leve,l territories of the entire Alpine area and the Central Appennines, including the massif of the Mont Blanc, the Mount Rosa, the Dolomities and the Gran Sasso.

The practice of mountaineering, represented by the communities of “Club Alpino Italiano” (CAI)and of “Collegio Nazionale delle Guide Alpine” (CNAGAI), is expression of knowledge and techniques, values of solidarity and mutual help, not only of specific skills. Its visibility in that immaterial cultural heritage contributes to deepen and to spread environmental knowledge and of ecosystems, also with respect local cultural specificities of territories, combining the importance to safeguard, in an integrated and sustainable way, aspects of natural heritage and traditionally transmitted by communities.