At the invitation of the German National Commission for UNESCO, representatives of World Heritage sites and tentative sites met in Bamberg in early March for a workshop with a focus on “inclusion”. Nearly 30 representatives of World Heritage sites and tentative sites came together to discuss inclusion measures for visitor centres.

After a welcome by Bamberg Mayor Dr Christian Lange, examples from Luxembourg, Weimar and Bamberg showed how social inclusion and integration can be achieved. Moreover, the programme contained visits to Bamberg’s newly established World Heritage Information Centre, to the Information Centre of the former Benedictine monastery of St. Michael and to the Mikveh Documentation Centre in the redeveloped City Wall Quarter.

Anne Wening from the Federal Office for Accessibility supported the workshop. She gave an impression of the realities of life for physically challenged people. For this purpose, the eyesight and hearing ability of the participants was restricted with special glasses and headphones. A wheelchair could also be used to raise awareness of the conference environment from a new perspective. In addition, demanding language levels were identified as a possible barrier to understanding for exhibition guests.

Photo Credit: City of Bamberg

“Mayor Dr Christian Lange welcomes the participants of the UNESCO workshop”