Japanese Funds-In-Trust Subregional Meeting on the Silk Roads Heritage Corridors

The UNESCO/Japanese Funds-In-Trust Project for the Silk Roads Heritage Sites in Central Asia has organized a sub-regional meeting, uniting a select group of experts from across the field, from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as UNESCO representatives. The meeting is in partnership with the World Heritage Center and the UNESCO Office in Tashkent, and in cooperation with the Principal Department for the Preservation and Utilization of Cultural Objects of the ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The aim of the meeting, which took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from the 13^th to 14^th of September 2017, was to discuss the progress made in the multi-national cross-collaborative plans for the Silk Roads Heritage Corridors, to nominate Silk Roads locations to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This effort is in the framework of the second phase of the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-In-Trust Pro

ject on Support for Documentation Standards and Procedures of the Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination in Central Asia. It was also an opportunity for states to share the success they have had regarding the nominations. Further, there were sessions that aimed to teach implementation and monitoring strategies of these locations.

In conjunction with the sub-regional meeting, the partners also organized on-site training workshops in Tashkent, Samarkand and Khiva from the 12^th to 20^th of September 2017. These on-site training workshops were an opportunity for young archaeologists and architects to learn how to utilize the very latest technological methods for preserving, landscaping and developing 3D models. These techniques are designed to improve the ways in which excavated sites related to the Silk Roads are dug and recorded, and will prepare the young professionals with the tools to create 3D models of historical buildings discovered in excavation sites.