Cultural Tourism Charter summer school held in Austria and Slovenia

The ICOMOS Austria, ICOMOS Slovenia, ICOMOS ICTC & ICOMOS University Forum Cultural Heritage Tourism Charter Summer School and Workshop 2024 took place from July 1-7, 2024 in Vienna and Heiligenkreuz/Gutenbrunn (Austria) and at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia). It brought together experts, students, and professionals from across Europe for an intensive, collaborative effort focused on translating the ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Charter into German and Slovenian. The Summer School was organised in cooperation with ICOMOS Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, and Switzerland, as well as the ICOMOS University Forum and the ICOMOS International Committee on Cultural Tourism (ICTC). It was coordinated by Caroline Jäger-Klein, Ulrike Herbig (ICOMOS Austria), Sonja Ifko (ICOMOS Slovenia), Celia Martínez Yáñez (coordinator of the Charter, ICTC VP, Board of ICOMOS) and Stephanie Veith (ICOMOS ICTC EP, ICOMOS Germany). This seven-day event served as a model of international and interdisciplinary cooperation to draft a translation of an adopted ICOMOS document, especially when the language of translation is spoken in several countries.

The Charter for Cultural Heritage Tourism was adopted in 2022. It addresses current global challenges and goals, including topics such as climate change, overtourism, and the shift toward rights-based heritage management. The charter was originally launched in English, French, and Spanish. However, throughout the last two years, the Charter has been translated by numerous teams into various languages. The translation of the charter into several different languages is an important tool to make the document available and accessible to a broader audience and reinforce ICOMOS’s commitment to inclusivity and multilingual outreach.

The participants were students and professionals from various fields such as architecture, history, archaeology, tourism, and planning. They collaborated closely with ICOMOS experts to create translations that embody both linguistic accuracy and regional significance. The programme associated with the translation hours included lectures, workshops, and excursions related to the field of tourism. The lectures were delivered by renowned ICOMOS members and university professors, who offered theoretical and practical perspectives on the evolving relationship between heritage and tourism. Field visits complemented the theoretical part by illustrating the real-world application of the Charter’s principles. Visits to World Heritage properties, such as  the Historic Centre of Vienna, the Wachau Cultural Landscape and the Schönbrunn Palace, along with other heritage places, provided participants with direct context for discussions on sustainable heritage tourism and management. The theoretical and practical mix of the summer school content and the charter translations significantly deepened the participants’ understanding of how the Charter can be used to ensure responsible tourism and heritage protection. 

This collaboration highlights the importance of activating and utilising ICOMOS structures for joint educational and professional initiatives. Alongside the translation exercise, the Summer School served as a catalyst for future cross-border projects. It reinforced institutional partnerships, broadened professional networks, and demonstrated how the integration of academic and practical expertise can effectively tackle global heritage issues.

Documents: German Translation | Slovenian Translation