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Kraków will host the next OWHC Congress in 2019

The 14th Congress of the Organisation of World Heritage Cities in Gyeongju in South Korea ends today and the host of the next Congress was voted just hours ago. We are proud to inform that it is Kraków! We competed against Granada (Spain) and Kazan (Russia).

We do not know the exact distribution of votes as the voting was held by secret ballot but we are hoping to know official results after our delegation returns from Korea. Kraków was represented by Robert Piaskowski Deputy Director for Programming at the Kraków Festival Office, responsible, among other things, for Kraków’s participation in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. On behalf of Mayor Jacek Majchrowski Rober Piaskowski demonstrated that our city will be the best location for the next OWHC meeting. Before his presentation participants watched a special address recorded by Mayor Majchrowski who invited everyone present at the meeting in Gyeongju to come to Kraków. The presentations, apparently successful, were supported by Agata Mierzyńska, chief specialist at Mayor’s Office, responsible for our city’s participation in the OWHC and Małgorzata Przygórska-Skowron, head of the Kraków Convention Bureau at the Municipality of Kraków. We know the competition was serious and there were intense talks until the very end. Our delegation will receive the official OWHC flag today.

The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) is composed of 280 cities in which are located sites included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. These 280 World Heritage Cities have a combined population of over 164 million. Within the Organization, these cities are represented by their Mayors with the active participation of their heritage management specialists.

The OWHC's headquarters are located in Québec City, which hosted the First International Symposium of World Heritage Cities in July 1991. The primary objectives of the Organization are to favor the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, to encourage co-operation and the exchange of information and expertise on matters of conservation and management as well as to develop a sense of solidarity among its member cities.