46^th Meeting of the Board of Directors
23 and 24 October 2018
Icherisheher, Azerbaijan

The forty-sixth meeting of the Board of Directors took place in Icherisheher, Azerbaijan from 23 to 24 October 2018. All eight Board member cities were represented at the meeting.

In addition to discussing the customary administrative issues, the Board approved with great satisfaction the excellent progress report presented by Krakow of the ongoing preparations for the World Congress to be held there 2-5 June 2019. The scientific symposium will have as its theme “Heritage and Tourism: Local Communities and Visitors – Sharing Responsibilities”. The Mayors’ Workshop will address the topic of “Creative Industries and World Heritage Cities” while the parallel workshop for site managers will deal with the newly developed “Tourism Assessment Tools”.

Discussion took place and decisions were taken concerning current and proposed projects and programs. These included the report on the progress towards the realization of a network within the OWHC of World Heritage port cities, the preparations for a workshop in Vienna addressing the issues facing World Heritage cities with a large population as well as the approval of the new “Capacity Building Workshop”.

In their final resolution, the members of the Board thanked the Chairman of the Board of the Administration of the State Historical Architectural Reserve – Icherisheher, Mr. Asgar Alakbarov, for his most generous hospitality in hosting the 46^th meeting of the OWHC Board of Directors. All in attendance were most impressed with the richness and beauty of the cultural heritage of the historic center as well as the excellent organization of the meeting.