The Soqotra Heritage Project is a coordinated by the Centre for Middle Eastern Plants (part of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) in cooperation with the Freie Universität Berlin, the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), the Senckenburg Research Institute, the Soqotra Culture and Heritage Association, the Yemeni Environmental Protection Authority, the General Organisation for Antiquities and Museums (GOAM), Carey Tourism (sustainable tourism partner) and Stories as Change (production of visual storytelling and project' films). Additionally, the project benefits from the initial support of the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport through the British Council Cultural Protection Fund. Further funds are being acquired for follow on programmes.

The key element of the partnership established for the Soqotra Heritage Project is its interdisciplinary character that brings together different experiences in the field of cultural and natural heritage conservation, including the intangible cultural heritage of Soqotri communities.

The partnership is a fundamental element of the project, which through its interdisciplinary character seeks to enhance the biodiversity focus through increasing knowledge about the not yet fully explored cultural heritage of the Soqotra Archipelago.

The key principle behind the governance and management structure of Mosi-Oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls World Heritage Site is critical stakeholder engagement, an approach that aims at including planning and decision-making processes with all key stakeholders and rights holders: from the governments and relevant institutional authorities of Zambia and Zimbabwe to local communities and actors.

Critical stakeholder engagement as a process works on building trust and cooperation between institutional and non-institutional stakeholders. Through this process, local actors and communities are empowered in the exercise of their stewardship towards the site, which further inspires them to engage in conservation and management activities for the long-term safeguarding of the site’s natural and cultural heritage values.

Scelig Michíl was inscribed on the World Heritage list for its unique cultural values as a striking early example of remote monasticism.  In the management of this site, the significance identified in the OUV is complemented with a deeper understanding of the the interconnected nature-culture significance of the site and management and conservation decisions are met also considering natural, intangible and socio-economic values. In order to fully understand significance of Scelig Michíl as a cultural landscape and as an example of early remote monasticism, there is the need to acknowledge and consider the intrinsic natural values of the place and its role as a striking setting for this monastic archaeological site.

The management plan has committed to further explore the natural heritage of the island, which is internationally recognised and protected as a Special Protection Area and a Nature Reserve, looking at further strengthening the cooperate on between the site management team, the National Parks and Wildlife Service. This includes the preparation of adequate assessment when maintenance and conservation works are planned for the archaeological remains on the island and the inclusion of site-specific conservation objectives and counts for the bird and floral species on the island.

The building block focuses on the network of agricultural producers and breeders that has been established under the framework of the project “Produttori di Qualità”(in English “producers of quality”). The network is currently made of 72 local individuals/small companies dedicated to the production of food and beverage products that are certified for their quality. The network includes producers focused on the creation of quality products rather than quantity.

The project focused on enhancing the awareness of living and operating in a World Heritage site and in creating meaningful networks of good practices and cooperation between producers, valuing the specificity of each product.

This has also become a platform for the creation of a direct connection between quality production and mountain huts, and hence enhancing the experience of locals, visitors, tourists as well as promoting local products and creating a mean for a sustainable economic development. In this cases farmers and breeders are not only seen as users of the natural environment, but active actors in the conservation of the landscape of the Dolomites.

The strategy #Dolomites2040 is a participatory process that was put in place by the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation in 2015. The process involved park authorities, local administrations, tourist industry consortia, environmental associations, hoteliers, farmers and professional associations with the aim of developing a set of recommendations for the management strategy of the World Heritage property of the Dolomites on four macro-themes: tourism, socio-economic development, active conservation and relationship-building.

The participatory process was carried out through a series of 11 meetings with a small group of people using the World Café method; during the meetings participants discussed key questions looking at how they would like to see the Dolomites in 2040 looking at ways to guarantee conservation as well as to support the livelihood of people living inside and nearby the property.

These information, proposals and worries have been key to the 2015 creation of the Overall Management Strategy and the Tourism Strategy, and the establishment of short-, medium- and long-term management and conservation directions tackling both the protection of the Outstanding Universal Value as well as matters of local importance.

Previous to the inscription in the WH List, from 2000 to 2013, the HHTR World Heritage Administration and the Yuanyang Management Committee for World Heritage HHTR enacted a modern law and regulatory system to promote the sustainable development of the rice terraces based on local customary laws, such as regulations on forest protection and water resources use. They have drafted local laws, regulations and administrative measures. At the same time, they nominated the site to be protected at national level. They formulated conservation and management plans which were announced by the State Council and provincial people’s government so it could be incorporated into the national legal protection system. This would allow them to obtain State financial support. While using and maintaining the customary laws and village regulations, the conservation and management of the rice terraces are conducted according to the law and are gradually being integrated into the modern legal framework.

Participatory research is essential when historical records lack and new concepts are introduced. The research in Yakou included three phases. The first phase aimed to understand the site and its significance. As a typical village with a well-preserved landscape of “forest-village-terrace-water system”, Yakou was selected to represent the landscape pattern of Laohuzui Area. Fieldwork was conducted both by the nomination team (Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage) and the scientific research team (Yunnan University). The second phase focused on the restoration of Yakou’s irrigation system. Semi-structured interviews to locals, fieldwork and restoration were conducted. According to research results, the traditional water management system and related knowledge emerged as key elements in Yakou. Ditches, canals and water-woods were repaired to ensure its long-term use, and traditional ceremonies and inspection system were established by the elders. The third phase focused on the enhancement of the water management, where researchers conducted spatial research of the settlement patch distribution pattern and hydrological analysis using Geographic Information System followed by the replication of the experience in other villages.

The partnership and management system of prefecture-county-township-village is under the guidance of the Upstream competent department and cooperates with specialized research and technical institutions at different levels. It is a locally adapted innovative partnership that solves the integration between traditional and modern management, as well as international and national requirements.The World Cultural Heritage Management Administration of HHRT is responsible at prefectural level of the communication and coordination between international and national institutions. The Government of Yuanyang is the body in charge of heritage protection and management. A specialized unit, the World Heritage Management Committee of Yuanyang HHRT has been established to enforce the management plan and deal with daily affairs in the World Heritage site. Panzhihua Town and the Village Committee of Yakou are in charge of implementing conservation activities and coordinating with local stakeholders. From 2012-2018, the prefecture commissioned an investigation on the attributes and the water management system of Yakou village, in order to understand its underlying problems. The county sectors conducted the restoration of the water-wood management system based on the investigation's results.

The research that Ecotrust and the Kiiha partnership undertook was quintessential in understanding the context they were operating in and the risks that the company faced, which allowed them to frame their business engagement approach, argument, strategy and actions more efficiently.

During the business engagement training given through the Shared Resources, Joint Solutions programme, civil society organisations furthered their knowledge about positioning, negotiation and dialogue. For example with regards to positioning, at first, Ecotrust thought about incentivising Kinyara to fulfil the requirements of and attain the BonSucro standard; a survey even showed that Kinyara was actually not too far off requirements. However, Ecotrust understood that the standard is a market incentive and helps a business access a market that it could not reach before; in the case of Uganda, the sugar industry is very much protected, so there is no added value in being certified as the price would remain the same. This led Ecotrust to switch strategies.