The network is an opportunity to explore the Dolomites’ cultural richness in connection to its Outstanding Universal Value, though a series of multilingual (including minorities) museums located in mountain communities and cultural itineraries made to explore the Dolomites and its people and history. As museum play a key role in the life of local communities and they support the recording of local history and experiences through time, these places are also fundamental for communicating the values of the Dolomites through several natural and cultural perspectives.

Museums and cultural itineraries play a key role in raising awareness on the life of local communities and the experience lived by these territories from prehistory, through the two world wars until today, through events that have deeply shaped the cultural and social communities of this areas. The network of museums is a key platform for the direct interaction with local communities and for these communities to share their knowledge about the Dolomites and the historical events that have shaped its landscapes.

Last but not least, the offer a chance for people with physical disabilities to explore the Dolomites in an accessible way

Awareness raising on the values of the Dolomites as a World Heritage property is necessary for the long term conservation of the place but also a provision of the World Heritage Convention.

In order to further advance awareness raising efforts among citizens, communities and local actors living insider and nearby the Dolomites, the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation has created a weekly television segment called Noi, Dolomiti UNESCO” (in English “We are the UNESCO Dolomites”) in which are presented the experiences and lives of people living, operating and/or working inside the territory of the Dolomites. The series is televised through the main television channels of the five provinces and the two regions in which the Dolomites are located, and via YouTube.

This activity aims at raising awareness at the wider level of regional and territorial communities, focusing on the natural and cultural values of the site but also exploring the social and economic lives of local communities and people.

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.

In 2016, the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation in cooperation with the association of mountaineer and mountain climbing and the owners and managers of 66 mountain refuge in the core area of the Property, have launched the project “Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Mountain Huts”. The project aims at strengthening the capacities of mountain hut managers as key stakeholders for the effective management of the Dolomites and key actors in the communication and promotion of the values of the Dolomites.

This partnership has been further strengthened through the adoption of the Convention of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Mountain Huts in 2017, which focuses on boosting the symbolic role of refuges, promoting them as information providers and raising the standard of their accommodation and their environmental performance.

The project focused not only on the installation of information panels and point, but also on training and capacity building activities dedicated to mountain hut owners and managers. These activities focused on UNESCO World Heritage key information and on understanding the Outstanding Universal Value of the Dolomites and its management structure.

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.