Comillas celebrates International Integral Heritage Week
A conference which, together with experts in the field, reflected on the value of Spanish heritage
25 November 2024
Spain, recognised as one of the countries with the highest number of monuments and landscapes declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, was the framework for reflection of the International Integral Heritage Week, held and organised by Comillas. This initiative explored the concept of integral heritage, which encompasses tangible, intangible and natural heritage, highlighting its special significance in specific contexts.
The proposal was based on an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together experts from various fields - historians, engineers, economists and other specialists - to address the uniqueness of Spanish heritage. In addition, current issues were analysed, such as sustainable tourism, educational methodologies and the role of technology in the conservation and study of heritage.
Among the lectures given by different university lecturers, the contributions of Jesús Sánchez, who analysed the foundations of integral ecology and its connection with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Guillermo Sven Reher Díez, who explored the relationship between nature and archaeology; and Víctor Luis de Nicolás, who highlighted the opportunities of sustainable heritage and tourism to revitalise the "emptied Spain", stood out. For her part, María Ana Saenz presented technological innovations applied to the study of heritage.
The city of Madrid played a leading role in the debate, with interventions such as that of Henar Pizarro, director of the Master's Degree in Integral Heritage at Comillas, who reflected on the immaterial court heritage, and those of the lecturers from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Félix Labrador, José Eloy Hortal and Cristina Bienvenida Martínez, who delved into topics such as the Royal Sites or the formation of National Heritage and the means for its social enjoyment.
Without a doubt, the International Integral Heritage Week allowed the richness of Spanish heritage to be valued from a global and sustainable perspective, highlighting its potential to contribute to economic and cultural development.
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