Feedback from the Loire Valley World Heritage regional meetings

Site visits

Representing both cultural outreach and regional development, site visits have been an opportunity to share developments in landscape and heritage initiatives in the Loire Valley, as part of the UNESCO Site Management Plan. 

 Photo albums of regional meetings  

Participants had the opportunity to discover the various new amenities at La Possonnière (café and harbour development, connection to the Loire cycle route, renaturation of a poplar plantation, etc.); the “Raconte-moi Vouvray”(“Tell me about Vouvray”) itinerary, which explores the historyandwine heritage of the commune; the “Petite cité de caractère” (“Little town with great character”) discovery trail in Montsoreau; the harbour heritage of Châteauneuf-sur-Loire; also the nomination of Saint-Dyé-sur-Loire for Petites Cités de Caractère status, and the church and the improvements made to the square in connection with the Loire Cycle Route.  

Workshops to promote dialogue

After their site visits, the participants split up to take part in workshops to discuss the fundamental requirements for the Loire Valley’s UNESCO-listed status, (re)discover some of the tools available (the website and  the practical guide: "Val de Loire patrimoine mondial et aménagement du territoire" ("Loire Valley World Heritage and regional development" ) and discuss the initial findings of the " Patrimoine Bien Commun (PBC) " (“Heritage as a Common Good”) programme with researchers from the University of Tours.  

The Mission Val-de-Loire’s policy for 2019-2021

A subsequent plenary session represented an opportunity to present the Mission’s policy for 2019-2021, focusing on 3 projects: 

• Portraits of the Loire in the Renaissance: a project which aims to enable the general public to picture the Loire and its banks at the time of the Renaissance (it forms part of the 500th anniversary celebrations of the Renaissance(s] in the Centre-Val-de-Loire Region) ;
•  Perspectives on the Loire Valley : a call for expressions of interestto promote and supportthe emergenceofcultural landscape development projects in the Loire Valley;
• the use of a photographic observatory: a participative project for evaluating changes in the landscape and raising awareness of the implications of these changes.

After each meeting, discussions continued around a buffet.