Contact:
  • Tony Crouch, World Heritage Manager
  • Address:
    Planning Services, Trimbridge House, Trim Street, Bath BA1 2DP
  • E-mail:
    world_heritage@bathnes.gov.uk
  • Telephone:
    01225 477584
  • Fax:
    01225 477663
  • Minicom:
    01225 477535
  • Page Updated:
    03/10/2008
  • Author:
    Tony Crouch
A to Z Index

International Work

Organization of World Heritage Cities

OWHC logo

Bath, through the Mayor's office, belongs to an international non-profit network of heritage cities called the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC). This Organization aims to encourage closer working between cities, and to help cities improve their management methods. For more information on the OWHC see the Quick Guide or the OWHC website.

Our region

Through the OWHC, Bath works with a number of cities, particularly those of the North West European Region. This region includes the following cities:

· Rauma, Finland

· Bergen, Norway

· Bamberg, Germany

· Roros, Norway

· Lubeck, Germany

· Karlskrona, Sweden

· Quedlinburg, Germany

· Stockholm, Sweden

· Stralsund, Germany

· Visby, Sweden

· Weimar, Germany

· Bern, Switzerland

· Wismar, Germany

· Edinburgh, UK

· Luxembourg, Luxembourg

· Telford, UK



Bath works very closely with Edinburgh and Telford, the other UK member cities, to coordinate our approach to the OWHC and make our membership as effective as possible for each city.

The Region meets every two years at a regional conference to share experiences and expertise.

OWHC Projects

In 2005/6 year, Bath took part in an OWHC education project. This was the first time schools had used World Heritage in Bath as a teaching resource. The project involved twinning schools in World Heritage cities and gave the students joint programmes to follow that looked at personal, local and world heritage issues.

Bath's Hayesfield School was been twinned with the Escola E.B. 2,3 de D. Pedro IV in Sintra, Portugal. The groups of 12-13 year olds exchanged information over the year as they followed the programme. Hayesfield students will worked with the National Trust at Prior Park Landscape Gardens on a project to research and design a sustainable visitor and learning centre in the Grade 1 listed historic garden.

International Visits

Bath has a well established international profile as a heritage city and is studied by students and professionals from all around the world. UK study tours by heritage and planning professionals often include Bath. The challenges faced by the city for several decades, such as conservation on a large scale and balancing the needs of modern development and the historic environment, are common to cities across the world. This is increasingly the case for cities in Asia which are now pressured by fast paced modern development driven by swift economic growth and the need to raise standards of living.

Recent visits have included a group of Chinese planners on a study tour of historic cities, a group of Indian heritage specialists studying management plans and urban conservation, and heritage tourism planners from Romania.

These visits provide us with an opportunity to share our experience with other cities and countries, and to learn from different approaches around the world. This broadens our attitudes to heritage management and reminds us that we are managing an internationally important city.