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Two South African learners from two schools involved in the UNESCO Associated Schools Project (ASPnet) will participate in the World Heritage Youth Forum, which takes place from 3-9 September 2001 in Karlskrona, Sweden. Lesego Raphela from Ngaka Maseko High School in Mabopane, North West, and Frans Moreku, from Reitumetsi High School in Soshanguve, Gauteng, were selected at a joint meeting of ASPnet schools. They will be accompanied by Mr. G Sono and Ms. J Smith, who are educators and ASPnet co-ordinators from Bokgoni Technical High School in Atteridgeville and Clapham High School in Pretoria, respectively. The Municipality of Karlskrona kindly offered to sponsor the air tickets for all 4 South African participants, as well as their accommodation in Sweden.

The World Heritage Youth Forum is co-ordinated by the World Heritage Centre and the Swedish National Commission for Unesco, and is part of the Unesco World Heritage in Young Hands project, whose aim is to help learners and educators deepen their understanding of World Heritage. The Forum will bring together learners and educators from different parts of the world, and create an important platform for the future involvement of young people in World Heritage conservation. The learners will be encouraged to be proud of their own heritage, and to appreciate the importance of preserving the common heritage of mankind; the World Heritage. The Forum will also give the young people an opportunity to exchange information about World Heritage sites in their respective countries, and to exchange ideas on how to preserve World Heritage. The learners and educators will be encouraged to form networks and plan future exchanges.

Preparations for participating in the Forum included twinning between two South African schools and schools from Slovakia, Estonia and Sweden. The partner schools had to work on a triplet project, under the themes "Can old fortifications and military establishments help us build peace?" and "Will our heritage be forgotten or will it be inherited by our children?" They also had to create posters based on these themes. The posters will be presented jointly in an exhibition in Karlskrona.

The two learners' participation in the Forum is expected not only to enrich them personally, but also to provide them with skills to educate other schools (ASPnet and non-ASPnet) on World Heritage issues.

Contact: Zodwa Tsajwa (SA National Commission for UNESCO) at 082 875 7443/012 312 5331

Issued by: Department of Education and SA National Commission for UNESCO, 29 August 2001