UNESCO is the “intellectual” Agency of the United Nation (United Nation Educational, Scientific and Culture Organization). Its main role is to seek peace promoting the cultural heritage, increasing the intercultural dialogue, to improve education and to increase sustainable development processes around the World.
UNESCO is developing actions focused on 8 main themes:
* Freedom of Expression
* Heritage protection
* Learning live together
* Building knowledge society
* One planet, one ocean
* Science for a sustainable future
* Preventing violent extremism
Within these themes, the State members set up agreement and programmes: the most famous ones are the World Heritage List (WHL 1972) and the Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB 1971).
The World Heritage Convention, links together nature conservation and preservation of cultural properties. The Convention wants to defend the interaction between man and nature. Through the Convention the States created the World Heritage List: sites inscribed on the list express a shared commitment to preserving the heritage for future generation, requiring comprehensive management plan and preservation measures. The site must prove to have “outstanding universal value” which often bring benefit like increasing of tourists and public awareness. Properties can be inscribed as cultural, natural or mixed sites and need to meet at least one of the ten criteria.
The Man and Biosphere Programme aims to combine the natural and social sciences, economics and education to improve human livelihood safeguarding natural and managed ecosystem.
Recently, 17th November 2015, UNESCO established the UNESCO Global Geoparks label in the frame of the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme. The UNESCO Global Geoparks are unified area characterized by sites and landscape having international geological significance. Geoparks are managed with sustainable bottom up approach. UNESCO support Member´s State to establish UNESCO Global Geopark, in cooperation with Global Geoparks Network. Every 4 years UNESCO is evaluating the results and achievements of the members in order to decide the maintenance of the status.