On the afternoon of September 17 local time, The Next 50 Years: World Heritage Education Towards the Future was held at the Al Faisaliyah Center in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,as a side event at the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee. The event was hosted by the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (WHITR-AP). The award list for 2023 Global Awards for World Heritage Innovative Cases (AWHEIC) was announced at the event, followed by an award ceremony and an international sharing forum on winning cases. Among the winning cases of Star of Discoverywas Zijin Cao International Peace School: Safeguard World Heritage and Promote Peace Education submitted by The Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre Victims by Japanese Invaders.

Competing with Nearly 100 Cases from Around the World

World heritage is the common heritage of humanity, and heritage education is of great significance to social development in the future. In 2023, nearly 100 cases were received from around the world. Among them, 30 winning cases (10 Stars of Outstanding, 10 Stars of Discovery, and 10 Stars of the Future) were selected. Standing out from the fiercer competition, Zijin Cao International Peace School: Safeguard World Heritage and Promote Peace Education was awarded Star of Discovery.

Overall evaluation from the WHITR-AP: Commitment to exploring in-depth value and model innovation, collaborative and context-driven innovation between heritage sites and heritage education models, and demonstration value for global innovation.

Winning Recognition from UNESCO for the Second Time

The international award marks the second time that historical facts behind the Nanjing Massacre have received a UNESCO designation and UNESCO has recognized the contribution made by Nanjing to spreading peace, after Documents of the Nanjing Massacre were inscribed on the Memory of the World Register.

During the Nanjing Massacre, which lasted from December 13, 1937 to January 1938, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were killed by Japanese invaders. In October 2015, UNESCO added Documents of the Nanjing Massacre to its Memory of the World Register. The Memorial Hall, built on the Site of “Mass Grave of 10,000 Corpses”, is one of the main institutions that keep those documents.

“Zijin Cao International Peace School is a peace school that was built on the historical sites of the Nanjing Massacre. The school is a practitioner of peace and also an incubator of peace ambassadors,” said Zhou Feng, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Nanjing Municipal Committee and director of the Memorial Hall. Established in June 2017 by the Memorial Hall as a Memory of the World heritage education program, Zhou said, the school aims to make proper use of the historical sites of the Nanjing Massacre while injecting new vitality to them, and pass on and safeguard Documents of the Nanjing Massacre. To that end, it will assume the responsibility of promoting world heritage education and cultivating peace ambassadors. With a firm belief in safeguarding peace throughout the process, the school will communicate the ideas of drawing lessons from history, cherishing peace and creating a bright future, and spread the seeds of peace to every corner of the world.

Training Over 5,000 Students from Over 80 Countries and Regions in Six Years

Students at Zijin Cao International Peace School mainly include international students, members of international friendly groups, and international peace volunteers. The school offers in-person courses at historical sites, such as Mourning Ceremony, Survivors’Testimony, Visiting Historical Sites, Peace Hands-on Lesson, and Zijin Cao International Peace Camp. After finishing their lessons, each student will be issued a Peace Ambassador certificate, which expresses the hope that they will take action to carry forward historical memories, uphold human justice, and spread the seeds of peace. Since its inception, the school has held 80 training sessions for more than 5,000 students from over 80 countries and regions, including the United States, Germany, Italy, Norway, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Poland.