Cultural heritage is a key factor in the shaping of people’s cultural dimension, stimulate identity building and reinforce the sense of belonging to one’s community. In this regard, MiBACT’s Directorate General for Education and Research http://www.dger.beniculturali.it/ each year prepares a National Plan for Cultural Heritage Education together with the High Council for Cultural and Landscape Heritage. The Plan is an orientation/direction tool that defines the objectives of heritage education in several fields including but not limited to school education and is part of an interdisciplinary education system that can engage multiple people in the management and safeguard of cultural sites.

In accordance with the provisions of the National Plan for Education to Cultural Heritage (December 2015) a special attention was paid to to the school/work alternation programmes and a result of that is the recent publishing of the “Portolan Chart for the school/work alternation in the cultural sites”. Part of the Directorate-General for Education and Research is the Center for Educational Services (SED) of the Museum that promotes the growth and enhancement of a shared and participatory education system, in application of Council of Europe Recommendation R (98) 5 to Member States concerning Heritage Education. SED supports the General Directorate in the coordination of the MiBACT’s National Educational Services Network all activities pertaining to education, training, communication, dissemination and promotion of cultural heritage, including the UNESCO Heritage.

Cultural heritage is a key factor in the shaping of people’s cultural dimension, stimulate identity building and reinforce the sense of belonging to one’s community. The Centre for Educational Service is a Ministry service that has the institutional task to support diffusion of the knowledge and awareness of the Cultural Heritage via educational and learning activities mostly focussed on school pupils; consolidate access, enjoyment, research and promotion in cultural heritage sites; support the activities of state educational services on the territory, spreading and promoting the learning activities.

In December 2015 the Centre has published the National Cultural Heritage Education Plan a document that summarises and provides guidelines by defining the concepts and aims of the education to cultural heritage and aims at encouraging implementation in schools of multi-subject projects focussed on cultural heritage for the purposes of stimulating identity-building in the pupils and strengthen the sense of belonging to one’s community.

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More than three hundred young people aged between 20 and 35, including students, researchers, artists, professionals, managers and entrepreneurs: this is the soul of the Youth Committee of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO. Established in 2015, the Youth Committee aims to support the Commission’s activities in the fields of education, science, culture and communication. The Committee, chaired by Paolo Petrocelli, has a central structure consisting of National Board, Executive Board, National and Territorial Projects Coordination, and peripheral branches in all regions of Italy, divided into teams led by Regional Representatives. The Youth Committee supports the activities of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO in the fields of education, science, culture and communication, promoting projects, fostering values ​​and highlighting priorities in local communities while encouraging active participation of young people and civil society in national initiatives and events.

The World Heritage Education Programme launched in 1994 proposes educational activities and tools with the aim of promoting the involvement of younger generations in the protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage. By participating in these activities, young people become more aware of the threats and problems of the World Heritage, learn to cooperate to safeguard our shared heritage and become ready to be true protagonists of their future.

The World Heritage Education Centre portal hosts published information works about the initiatives and projects in progress:

• • World Heritage in Young Hands: A kit dedicated to the teachers to help them research in depth the issues related to the knowledge of the World Heritage List;
  • World Heritage Youth Forum: information about how to participate in the international forums dedicated to the younger people;
  • World Heritage Volunteers: information about how to participate to the volunteer camps all over the world;
  • Patrimonito’ s World Heritage Adventures: an animated series starring Patrimonito.

Patrimonito is the mascot of World Heritage. Its name in Spanish means “small heritage”; the character was created in 1995 by a group of Spanish-speaking students engaged in a workshop as part of the first World Heritage Youth Forum held in Bergen (Norway). The character is based on the UNESCO emblem that combines a central square (the symbol of human work) with the circle that represents the nature, both closely related. Patrimonito is a young keeper of Heritage capable to engage and drive the younger generation to care for and protect the Heritage and has been widely adopted as the international mascot of the World Heritage Education Programme.

A series of books for young adults set in the UNESCO World Heritage sites all over the world by writer Diletta Nicastro. Mauro Cavalieri, a young UNESCO inspector fights against the dangers threatening our Cultural Heritage and protects the UNESCO sites all over the world. The book series is sponsored by the Italian National Commission for UNESCO.