Author: Valentum

In 2018, the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) with its Regional Secretariat for Northwest Europe and North America initiated a travel scholarship for young people. Equipped with a budget of up to 1.000 €, the winners of the scholarship program have the opportunity to discover World Heritage Cities and experience why our UNESCO World Heritage needs to be preserved.

This project is aimed at young people from ages 18 to 28 in order to make Europe’s and North America’s World Heritage a more tangible experience for the younger generation. Each traveller/team has to visit at least three different cities listed as World Heritage in at least two different countries, with at least two destinations being member cities of the Regional Secretariat of Northwest Europe and North America. Otherwise, they are completely independent at planning their own trip.

The travellers share their experience on this blog and keep everyone updated on social media (Instagram or Facebook) as they are discovering different World Heritage Cities. At the end of their trips they design a creative output (photographs, videos etc.) of their travels. The project intends to share World Heritage from different perspectives. Applications are taken from all over the world in order to represent different views on several heritage sites.

We invite you to follow also our 2024 Young Travellers and read about their experiences in this blog, or on the OWHC Facebook and Instagram channels.

About OWHC

The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) was founded on September 8, 1993 in Fez, Morocco. It represents more than 300 cities with sites that are included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The headquarters is located in Québec City.

The OWHC is following three main goals:

• to favor the implementation of the World Heritage Convention
• to encourage co-operation and the exchange of information and expertise on matters of conservation and management of urban heritage
• to develop a sense of solidarity among its member cities

The OWHC is subdivided by Regional Secretariats to link the member cities of their region with the General Secretariat. The Regional Secretariat of Northwest Europe and North America is hosted by the city of Regensburg.

Find out more about the OWHC: https://www.ovpm.org/en