China and Japan projects take top honours in the 2025 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation

The 2025 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation recognized ten outstanding projects, with the Award of Distinction-the highest honour awarded this year-going to the Iwami Ginzan Library Conservation Project in Oda, Japan, and the Sihang Warehouse Conservation Project in Shanghai, China.

The jury selected this year's winners from a record 90 entries submitted from 16 countries, the largest number of applications in the Awards' 25-year history. The submissions reflected an expanding range of heritage typologies and a growing emphasis on community engagement, sustainability, and context-specific conservation practice across Asia and the Pacific.

The year 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. Since their establishment in 2000, the Awards have recognised hundreds of projects demonstrating how heritage conservation can support social cohesion, local livelihoods, and sustainable development. This year's winning projects, the jury noted, illustrate how heritage practice in the region continues to adapt to environmental pressures, urbanisation, and changing community needs.

The seven-member international jury selected awardees based on three criteria: understanding of place, technical achievement, and sustainability and impact. Read the jury's citations for each of the ten award-winning projects below.