TEHRAN – Two Iranian cultural heritages have been honored at the 2022 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, CHTN reported on Monday.

Zarch Qanat, in the central province of Yazd, received the Award of Distinction, while Sadoughi House, also in Yazd, won the Award of Merit.

The winners were announced during the international symposium of “The Next Fifty Years: Challenges and Opportunities for World Heritage” which was held in Beijing, China, on Saturday and Sunday, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

The international symposium was organized in collaboration with the Asian Academy for Heritage Management Secretariat at Southeast University and the Beijing Cultural Relics Protection Association, with generous support provided by the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation.

The Award of Distinction also went to Stepwells of Golconda in Hyderabad, India, and Neilson Hays Library in Bangkok, Thailand.

Topdara Stupa in Charikar, Afghanistan, Nantian Buddhist Temple in Fujian, China, Domakonda Fort in Telangana, India, Byculla Station in Mumbai, India, and 25 Chivas in Kathmandu, Nepal, were also among the winners of the Award of Merit.

The Award of Excellence was given to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum in Mumbai, India, while M30 Integrated Infrastructure for Power Supply and Waste Collection and Xiaoxihu Block, both in China, received the Award for New Design in Heritage Contexts.

Some 13 projects from six countries – Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, and Thailand – have been acknowledged for awards by an international jury in this year’s Awards program. Jury deliberations were carried out in November 2022, when members reviewed a total of 50 entries from 11 countries from across the Asia-Pacific region.

Since 2000, the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation program has been recognizing the efforts of private individuals and organizations in restoring, conserving, and transforming structures and buildings of heritage value in the region.

By acknowledging private efforts to restore and adapt historic properties, the Awards encourage others to undertake conservation projects within their own communities, either independently or through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Awarded projects, to date, demonstrate various conservation criteria, such as the articulation of the spirit of place, technical achievement, appropriate use or adaptation, the project’s engagement with the local community and the project’s contribution to enhancing the sustainability of the surrounding environment and beyond.

ABU/AM