Call for Researchers: Heritage Place Lab 2024-2025

We are looking for five researchers and their research institutes to join the next edition of the Heritage Place Lab!

The ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership (WHL) programme is launching a second edition of the Heritage Place Lab (HPL), focused on strengthening networks across research and site management in the context of the World Heritage Convention. 

We invite researchers interested in establishing collaborations with World Heritage management institutions to contribute to improving their management processes and decision-making. 

The Heritage Place Lab 2024-2025 will consist of a series of online and in-person workshops to be held between September 2024 and April 2025. 

The expected outcome of this second edition is to develop tools to facilitate the exchange between site managers and researchers, establishing working methodologies with managers and management institutions on how to design research agendas, projects and strategies to support World Heritage site management. Through the Heritage Place Lab, universities and research institutes will be connected with site management institutions to analyze and elaborate on World Heritage property’s research needs.

Heritage Place Lab 2024-2025

For the Heritage Place Lab 2024-2025, we are looking for five researchers and their research institutes or universities. The WHL will act as a knowledge broker, and will endeavour to match research institutions with World Heritage site managers to respond to the specific knowledge and expertise needed, and initiate long-term research-practice cooperation. 

The World Heritage properties that will participate in this edition of the Lab are:

A model for collaboration developed from the pilot phase will be consolidated through this new edition utilizing in particular the Enhancing our Heritage Toolkit 2.0 (2023) and the Guidance and Toolkit on Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context (2022). The HPL 2024-2025 will then work on defining research areas that can be used by World Heritage site managers and researchers to better address the needs of the World Heritage property. 

HPL will have three work components to be implemented in a maximum of 9 months duration (September 2024-April 2025): 

1. A 5-day inaugural workshop to be held in-person between 19 and 23 October 2024 in Beijing, China (excluding travel dates);

2. three 2-hour online mentoring sessions with individual World Heritage sites and two 3-hour online workshops with all World Heritage sites selected;

3. a closing workshop to be possibly held in-person, online or in hybrid modalities in April 2025.

In addition to participating in online and in-person workshops, researchers should consider that additional meetings and coordination with the partner site management team will be required. During these meetings, they will work together to strengthen their collaboration, carry out tasks assigned between workshops, and advance in the preparation of research agendas.

Incentives for participation

• Developing sound institutional relationships for long-term engagements between the WHL, research institutions and World Heritage properties.

• Promoting partnerships between site managing and research institutions in order to initiate and/or sustain a long-standing partnership, thereby building bridges between research institutions and World Heritage properties.

• Promoting research-practice partnerships that can generate funding applications for research grants as well as to support the implementation and application of research.

• Promoting networking and professional growth among collaborating World Heritage places, institutions, researchers and practitioners.

Who can apply

The Heritage Place Lab is looking for researchers with proven experience in relation to the priority themes identified. Researchers interested in the Heritage Place Lab should be part of or connected to a research institution and/or university.

Researcher or research team leaders, in the case of research teams, should have completed a doctoral degree. 

How to apply for the Heritage Place Lab

Interested applicants should carefully read the full call for applications Heritage Place Lab 2024-2025 to learn about project requirements, selection criteria and priority themes that will be explored in the second edition of the Heritage Place Lab.

Applications should be submitted to the World Heritage Leadership email whl@iccrom.org by 10 August 2024.

The application process includes the submission of the following documents:

• Complete application form in English

• A brief version of the curriculum vitae et studiorum of the main researcher applicant.

• Official endorsements by the research institute or university (can be signed by your supervisor, the head of department or faculty).

Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered. 

Pre-selected researchers will be contacted via email and invited for an online interview with the World Heritage Leadership that will take place in mid-August 2024, dates to be agreed with the researcher.

If you encounter any issues submitting your application or if you have any questions concerning the Heritage Place Lab, please email us at: whl@iccrom.org.