International World Heritage Day - 18th April 2009

International World Heritage Day is celebrated at WHSs across the world every year on 18th April, to raise awareness of the diversity of the world's cultural and natural heritage and the steps that are being made to protect it, conserve it and promote understanding of it.  At its meeting in Quebec in 2008, ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) decided that the theme for International World Heritage Day 2009 is Heritage and Science.

Events for International World Heritage Day - 18th April 2009

For 2009, International World Heritage Day on 18th April has the theme of Heritage and Science. An exciting range of events has been organised for Liverpool - Maritime Mercantile City World Heritage Site, including the first public access into the Old Dock display centre:

• Professor Philip Woodworth will give a lecture on the work of Sir William Hutchinson (appointed as the first Dock Master in 1759) in the Merseyside Maritime Museum, followed by a tour of the Old Dock display centre, by kind permission of Liverpool One. Old Dock was the first commercial enclosed wet dock in the world when it opened in 1715 and marked the beginning of Liverpool's rise to an international seaport. It has been buried since 1826 when it was infilled to create the site for Foster's great Custom House, but its North East corner has been excavated for Grosvenor by Oxford Archaeology North and a below-ground viewing gallery has been created. This is an early opportunity for limited members of the public to gain access to Old Dock, in advance of a formal opening of the display centre later in the year.

• National Museums Liverpool have organised walks around the historic waterfront and an eco-friendly vehicle workshop.

• Liverpool City Council has organised a tour to discover the works of Jeremiah Horrocks (Liverpool's "Father of Astronomy") and an exhibition of the work of Sir Oliver Lodge (inventor of the spark plug!)

For further information, view the International World Heritage Day 2009 leaflet (PDF [214.9Kb]. Download time 50 seconds based on a 56k modem. Will open a new browser window.).