The Brazilian Experience of UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Abstract

The text briefly analyses Brazil’s history of international cooperation within the United Nations, and subsequently looks at the country’s experience in applying the Unesco Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, from 1978 to the present day. The improvement of the methods of the Convention by Brazil and the application of this experience for the improvement of the preservation policy at the national level are seen as the main result of the international cooperation for the patrimony. However, the moment is one of uncertainty and perplexity. What are the country’s prospects for cultural heritage at a time when Brazil is turning its back on international cooperation, especially in the fields of the environment and human rights. Will the Brazilian system heritage preservation system, built up over decades, be solid enough to survive these times of denial of universal values?

Jurema Machado—Urbanist architect by UFMG (1979). She was president of IPHAN from 2012 to 2016 and coordinator of the Cultural Sector of the UNESCO Representation in Brazil from 2002 to September 2012. She was president of IEPHA-MG from 1995 to 1998, in addition to having worked in the formulation of the Monumenta from 1999 to 2001 and in the areas of urban planning and control in the municipalities of Ouro Preto and Belo Horizonte