Experts, policy-makers and practitioners participating in the 2nd Huangshan Dialogue, on “UNESCO sites﹒climate change﹒space technologies” in Huangshan City, China, from 11 to 15 September 2016, 

Expressing their sincere appreciation to HIST (Int’l Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage under the auspices of UNESCO), AIR (Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), UNESCO and the Mt. Huangshan Administrative Committee for convening the 2nd Huangshan Dialogue and the hope that they will continue their collaboration in convening future dialogues every two years.

Recognizing the potential for World Heritage sites, Biosphere Reserves and UNESCO Global Geoparks to serve as experimental and learning sites for context-specific climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies for natural and cultural heritage conservation, sustainable tourism planning, disaster prevention and monitoring, and the strengthening of links between conservation and sustainable development of regions and peoples where these sites are located.

Emphasizing the potential role of space-, air- and ground-based sensing technologies and associated GIS and other applications, in reconstructing and understanding past climate change as well as to model and foresee future scenarios for UNESCO designated places and surrounding areas in the context of on-going and future climate change trends. 

Call upon UNESCO, HIST, UNESCO National Commissions, UNESCO National Committees responsible for coordinating the work of the World Heritage Convention, the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) and the International Geoscience and Geopark Program (IGGP) and authorities responsible for the management of UNESCO designated sites to use these sites in order to: 

Document and disseminate knowledge on past climate change, particularly well-illustrated in many UNESCO Global Geoparks, to raise awareness of local communities and the general public of the causes and consequences of global climate change and their implications for people and societies;

Document and disseminate information and data on the risks facing UNESCO-designated sites and their surrounding land and seascapes with regard to natural and human-induced disasters, and on predictions for climate change and related impact on future risks and vulnerabilities;

Identify cultural heritage monuments and artifacts that may face inevitable decay or disappearance due to climate change impacts or consequences (e.g. sea-level rise) and encourage the use of virtual reality and other appropriate technology to establish their 3-D images and other copies for archives to benefit future generations;

Collate, synthesize and disseminate information on on-going changes on ecosystems, habitats and species distribution patterns in UNESCO-designated sites in response to climate change, and encourage the building of scenarios and models on how management of the sites and surrounding land and seascapes could respond to such changes;

Encourage collaboration between states to develop a data and information repository for the UNESCO sites such that the information is universally available.

Use UNESCO-designated sites in globally and regionally critical ecosystems, e.g. “the Third Pole” or the Himalayan Range to record on-going climate-driven changes and predict their potential future trajectories and their consequences for economies and people;

Explore the possibilities for linking the Digital Belt and Road (DBAR) of AIR to create digital databases and other educational and information products for a selected number of UNESCO-designated sites in the countries along Continental and Maritime Silk Road;

Initiate and/or contribute to discussions and seminars and workshops and launch projects and special initiatives during the International Year of Sustainable Tourism in Development in 2017 to illustrate the role space technologies could play in addressing site-specific and regional impacts of tourism practice and in identifying potential UNESCO-designated sites where the tourism sector could launch new initiatives to demonstrate green and low carbon development;

Demonstrate how data and analysis systems can be used for evidence based decision making and participative site management to harmonize conflicting laws and policies hence lead to good governance at various levels;

Promote the use of UNESCO sites as models of sustainable and resilient societies for delivering 2030 Agenda as part of the local and national development plans;

Liaise with institutions responsible for infrastructure, construction, trade and transport sector development along China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative and use UNESCO designated places to launch studies and initiatives to minimize impacts and threats to concerned UNESCO-designated sites as well as to promote “people-to-people” scientific and cultural exchanges between site authorities and other concerned stakeholders; 

Work with interested UNESCO-designated sites to develop new and innovative communication resources derived from space technologies - including maps, satellite images, 3D imaging and animation – introducing visitors to the particular climate change impacts facing each site; 

Institute a systematic mechanism by which the rich experience on the application of space technologies to cultural and natural heritage is systematically fed into the management and monitoring processes through UNESCO and the States Parties concerned;

Promote Synergies in the application of remote sensing techniques for education, research, conservation and management activities in UNESCO sites with multiple designations.

Link to concerned UN bodies, e.g. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and associate financial (Green Climate Fund) and research (Global Green Growth Institute) organizations to explore the launching of projects and initiatives on the use of UNESCO-designated sites for climate change mitigation and adaptation with the use of space technology and other relevant modern technology applications.

Huangshan City, Anhui Province, China 

14 September 2016