Samuel Gessner on the team behind the successful application for the Eisinga Planetarium (Netherlands) to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Samuel Gessner was part of the team of historians and experts who drew up the application dossier for the Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker (Netherlands) to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The World Heritage Committee met on 10 September in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where they discussed the inclusion of new additions to the World Heritage list. Proposals made between 2022 and 2023 were evaluated.

At its 45th meeting, UNESCO classified and included the Eisinga Planetarium on its new list. In all, 42 new sites were inscribed (33 cultural and nine natural) and the extension of five sites that were already on the list (such as the historic centre of Guimarães) was approved.

The session was attended by 195 states and discussed possible solutions to the main contemporary challenges to global heritage, such as climate change, urban development or mass tourism, and armed conflicts.