Policy maker
Experienced policy-maker, using her research for change
Policy Making
I have worked on policy making and on linking research and practice within a variety of international organisations and governments.
Since 2021
2016-2021
2014 - 15
2013
2012
2004 - 2012
Since 2021
I have incorporated the results and recommendations from my 2022 book, ‘Rethinking Heritage for Sustainable Development,’ along with the 2015 UNESCO Policy on World Heritage and Sustainable Development to address key issues in the field. My collaboration extends to working with ICCROM, the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, and the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage.
2016-2021
I have organised diverse activities to implement the 2015 UNESCO Policy on World Heritage and Sustainable Development.
I have organised workshops, including on ‘World Heritage and Sustainable Development in Africa: Implementing the 2015 Policy’ organised in Robben Island in August 2019 (a cooperation between the University of Kent, the African World Heritage Fund, Robben Island Museum, and Cape Town University).
The aim was to exchange experiences and approaches on heritage for sustainable development. Another workshop on ‘World Heritage, Sustainable Development and Civil Society’ organised with Europa Nostra and the European Cultural Foundation has resulted in An Action Plan to assist civil society actors in implementing the policy. and I have also coordinated the 2021 ICOMOS Policy Guidance on ‘Heritage and the Sustainable Development Goals’.
2014 - 15
I took part in drafting the UNESCO Policy on the Integration of a Sustainable Development Perspective into the Processes of the World Heritage Convention. This policy was adopted by UNESCO in November 2015.
2013
I was one of 5 external experts invited to provide background notes for discussion at the UNESCO International Congress on ‘Culture: Key to Sustainable Development’ (Hangzhou, China, 15-17 May). I wrote a contribution on ‘Culture, a Driver and an Enabler of Social Cohesion’ to guide participants’ discussions, and I drafted proposals for the wording of ‘The Hangzhou Declaration: Placing Culture at the Heart of Sustainable Development Policies’.
2012
From November 2012 to January 2013, the EU invited me to take part in the reflections, events, and international conference: ‘Towards a New Strategy for Cultural Heritage in the Mediterranean’, organised for the closure of the EUROMED Heritage programme.
I was one of 6 experts invited to give a keynote speech at this conference and presented the results and case studies on heritage regeneration from my 2011 book Evaluating the Socio-Economic Impacts of Selected Regenerated Heritage Sites in Europe.
In 2012, the World Bank also invited me to use my 2011 book to assist the governments of India and Bhutan in protecting their heritage and using it for regeneration. The output of this project was a World Bank Guidance Note (unpublished) that I co-wrote with Eduardo Rojas, entitled ‘Heritage Management and Development for Social Inclusion and Economic Development’.
2004 - 2012
From 2004 to 2012, I occupied various positions at UNESCO, in the Secretariat of the 1972 World Heritage Convention and the 2003 Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention. I also participated in the strategic planning and drafting of the 2009 UNESCO World Report on Cultural Diversity. Additionally, from 2008 to 2012 I was the Associate Editor of the International Social Science Journal, published by UNESCO.