World Heritage Site Managers from Latin America and the Caribbean gather in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to promote Sustainable Tourism

In line with the project objectives to create synergies between the safeguarding of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, the workshop engaged local intangible cultural heritage experts to discuss the role World Heritage sites can play in supporting the transmission and viability of living heritage in their sites. Participants highlighted the need to work in collaboration with local practitioners and community groups to ensure an inclusive approach to tourism management. Examples were shared from three cities: Santo Domingo , Dominican Republic, Trinidad , Cuba and Oaxaca , Mexico, where UNESCO workshops were held in recent months to link living heritage safeguarding with key urban priorities such as sustainable tourism, climate change adaptation, the protection of green spaces and ecosystems, and the revitalization of local crafts in historic centers.

The workshop included a panel dedicated to the Afro-descendant cultural heritage in Greater Santo Domingo , highlighting work undertaken as part of a project funded by the UNESCO Fund for Intangible Cultural Heritage. The project engages nine countries and is implemented in collaboration with CECC/SICA and the Regional Center for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Latin America (CRESPIAL), with the involvement of the Central American Black Organization (ONECA)