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OWHC Training Course 2022 in Regensburg - Design Thinking Tools

10 participants from 9 OWHC member cities came to Regensburg for 2.5 days to learn about Design Thinking as new method for their work in heritage communication

International guests from World Heritage Cities meet in Regensburg for workshop

Philadelphia and Budapest, Vienna and Bruges, San Antonio and Vilnius, Augsburg, Quedlinburg and Stralsund: representatives of all these World Heritage Cities met from May 9 to 11 2022 in the World Heritage Visitor Centre on invitation of the City of Regensburg and the Regional Secretariat of the Organization of World Heritage Cities OWHC. An advanced training course on the topic of "Design Thinking" for experts in World Heritage education was gladly welcomed by the members of the international network of cities after a break of more than two years due to Covid.

Mayoress Dr. Astrid Freudenstein welcomed the guests together with Cultural Officer Wolfgang Dersch at a reception in the Old Town Hall. She expressed her delight at the opportunity to finally meet again in a personal exchange. The cultural officer emphasized: "The value of networking and communication on an international level is invaluable. Only in this way can we learn from each other and communicate our World Heritage cities and the unifying idea of a common heritage. I am particularly pleased that even guests from the U.S. made the journey to be part of this long-awaited, face-to-face meeting."

For two and a half days, the ten participants learned new methods and tools of "design thinking" in a workshop and discussed practical applications together. And along the way, they also explored the beauty of Regensburg's World Heritage Site - and were delighted. Zabeth Teelucksingh from Philadelphia was fascinated by the historic Old Town and the benefit of such training sessions in the OWHC city network: "The regional secretariat training course was a hit. We reconnected, we shared stories and we thought about the future. Specifically how to connect a greater number of youth to World Heritage. Using Design Thinking we came up with many ideas and finally two concepts- a socially interactive game and treasure hunt through a City Hall and Granma’s Heritage Memory Box. Stay tuned!"