International cultural agency UNESCO is celebrating 30 years since the adoption of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972, a document which now has some 175 signatories and protects around 730 sites across the globe. A international congress in Venice, ‘Shared Legacy, Common Responsibility’, scheduled for November 14-16, will celebrate the milestone, by bringing together more than 500 cultural heritage experts to analyse the convention’s successes and problems to date, and discuss ways of strengthening and better promoting its important role. ‘The World Heritage Convention is a noble, vital force in the world, fostering peaceful co-existence and honouring our past in equal measure with our future,’ says UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura. According to the organisation, the convention remains UNESCO’s most widely-backed legal instrument. Meanwhile, two additions to the World Heritage List were celebrated last week – Israel’s fortress of Masada and the Old City of Acco – almost 12 months since they were inscribed as having ‘outstanding universal value’. ‘Through their inscription, these properties have been, in a way, given to the world to share. The recognition of the universal value of these sites, means that the State of Israel has also accepted the responsibility that it entails: of protecting and preserving them, so as to hand them over to future generations,’ commented Matsuura, at a recent reception in Paris to honour the sites’ listing. Masada is a rugged natural fortress in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. It is a symbol of the ancient kingdom of Israel, and the last stand of Jewish patriots in the face of the Roman army, in 73 AD. Built by Herod the Great, King of Judaea (reigned 37-4 BC), as a palace complex, the fortress site now includes remains of camps, fortifications and what is estimated to be the world’s most complete surviving Roman siege works. Acco (Acre) is a walled port-city which has been continuously inhabited since the Phoenician period. The present city is characteristic of a fortified town dating from the Ottoman 18th and 19th centuries, with typical urban components, such as the citadel, mosques, khans and baths. The remains of the Crusader town, however, dating 1104-1291 AD, lie almost intact, both above and below the modern street level. Further information regarding the UNESCO congress is available online at: http://whc.unesco.org/venice2002