GoUNESCO
 | |
| Formation | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Ajay Reddy |
| Founded at | Hyderabad, India |
| Type | Private |
| Headquarters | Bangalore, India |
| Location | Worldwide |
Official language | English |
| Website | www |
GoUNESCO[1] is a campaign for the preservation and awareness of World Heritage Sites supported by the UN Agency UNESCO.[2] The campaign was created by Ajay Reddy, an entrepreneur based in Hyderabad at that time. It is supported by UNESCO, New Delhi.[3]
History
The project[4] began when Pallavi Savant posted a photo of a World Heritage Site to Twitter and asked how many people had been to it or were aware of the heritage sites whose photographs were printed at the back of a museum entry pass. Ajay Reddy saw the tweet and realized that he himself was not aware of half the places. He took it upon himself as a challenge and in 2012, he visited 9 out of the 12 World Heritage Sites in India.[5][6][7][8]
Travel Challenges
Participants can choose from different travel challenges such as the GoUNESCO India Challenge, GoUNESCO Germany Challenge, GoUNESCO South Africa Challenge, GoUNESCO Culture Challenge, and finally, the GoUNESCO Epic Challenge. For instance, a country-specific challenge such as The India Challenge mandates participants to visit all the World Heritage Sites located in India within one calendar year. The first person who visits all the world heritage sites, or the person with the most points at the end of the year, wins the challenge.
There are 316 intangible cultural heritage elements listed in the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding and The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Every participant entering the Cultural Challenge has to experience at least one or more cultural heritage elements and capture proofs in the form of pictures, videos and personal notes. Every proof of experiencing an intangible cultural heritage element can earn them points and, in turn enable them to learn about the unique aspects of cultures from across the world. The Epic Challenge, like The Culture Challenge is a lifetime challenge – meaning all the proofs from a participant's travel any time will be eligible even if a participant takes a lifetime to visit all the 1,007 Heritage Sites in the world.
Recently, GoUNESCO has started organising fun runs at World Heritage Sites including Hampi,[9] Bidar,[10] Warangal,[11] and Ooty.[12]
Student Program
In January 2014, GoUNESCO started a student program in which students are chosen from throughout the world through an open application process. The 6 month program is held in two sessions every year - January through June and July through December. Once chosen, the students are assigned fun tasks that help them explore and at the same time, build awareness of heritage around them.[13] Jai Bharathi was the winner of the first ever travel challenge.[14][15]
Awards and Recognitions
- Awarded Special Recognition by the Digital Empowerment Foundation, India[citation needed]
- Commended by the German National Commission for UNESCO[16] and the South African Heritage Research Association.[17]
- GoUNESCO is an associate partner with EU Heritage Tour project,[18] a European Commission funded project to encourage tourism to world heritage sites in Italy, Austria, Portugal, Cyprus and Netherlands.
References
- ↑ "Incredible, historic India". The Alternative. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ "Unesco World Heritage sites".
- ↑ "Official Support for GoUNESCO by Unesco New Delhi".
- ↑ Prasad, Usha. "Making heritage travel in India fun". The Alternative. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ "How GoUNESCO Started".
- ↑ "CyArk Engages GoUNESCO Campus Ambassadors".
- ↑ "LONGING TRAVEL: Ajay Reddy- The guy who started GoUNESCO". LONGING TRAVEL.
- ↑ "Youth ki awaaz article on GoUNESCO".
- ↑ "Run for heritage". The Hindu. 2014-07-14. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
- ↑ "Heritage run in Bidar". The Hindu. 2014-10-05. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
- ↑ "A go-to event for heritage lovers". The Hindu. 2015-03-08. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
- ↑ "'Go Heritage Run' attracts young and old alike". The Hindu. 2015-06-01. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
- ↑ "Incredible, historic India".
- ↑ "Hyderabad girl jai bharathi wins GO-Unesco challenge".
- ↑ "Go UNESCO challenge winner - Jai Bharti Interview - Youtube".
- ↑ "GoUNESCO – Reisen zu Welterbestätten".
- ↑ "Celebrating World Heritage Day".
- ↑ "EU Heritage Tour".