UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management initiative to establish interpretation and presentation standards at World Heritage Sites in Asia

This paper examines the UNESCO–ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management Cultural Heritage Specialist Training and Certification Programme, which is designed to establish interpretation and presentation standards at World Heritage Sites in Asia. It describes the programme and its major objectives and discusses the inauguration of the training programme at regional (cross-national) and national levels, noting specifically the importance of training and certification programmes at the national level. Although the training programme has been well received and is considered beneficial, the authors address two continuing challenges to its ultimate success – how can one best design and deliver effective training workshops at both the regional and national levels and, perhaps more importantly, how can one best establish effective training programmes at the national level. Citing the success of the training programme in Macao SAR, the authors demonstrate that such success depends on a number of factors, including the existence of a structured and institutionalised guide training programme at the national level, the availability of a team of qualified trainers and the delivery of the training programme in a local language.