On 19 June, the Second Council Meeting of the Alliance for Cultural Heritage in Asia (ACHA) took place in Qingdao, China. The event gathered experts from across Asia and beyond to discuss and promote the preservation of cultural heritage. 

Ms Aruna Francesca Maria Gujral, Director-General of ICCROM, highlighted the importance of partnerships and alliances in preserving cultural heritage. She stressed the need to use advanced digital technologies to protect cultural heritage in response to disaster and climate change. 

Ms Gujral emphasized ICCROM's dedication to "bringing tangible changes towards greater socio-economic growth, social cohesion, sustainability, and long-lasting impact for our communities and our planet." 

She expressed her belief in the power of collaboration, stating, "Together we can ensure that cultural heritage in all its forms continues to enrich lives, improve livelihoods, foster understanding, and boost social cohesion and stability in the world." 

During the meeting, the collaboration between National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) and ICCROM for increasing capacity building and awareness was discussed. This joint activity will welcome international professionals both from NCHA and ICCROM’s networks, supported and hosted by NCHA and Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage (CACH). The capacity development activity will happen in the Three Gorges Museum in the city of Chongqing, China, next October. 

After the Council meeting, ICCROM Director-General met with Mr Li Qun, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism and NCHA Administrator, to further discuss the MoU between ICCROM and NCHA.  

They shared the same vision to build a strategic and programmatic partnership around key strategic priority areas of work and delivery modalities towards joining efforts in conserving cultural heritage for longer-term impact at institutional, local community and experts' levels. 

We look forward to a fruitful collaboration and elevating it to a new level, reaching more people through our activities