The OWHC Regional Secretariat for Northwest Europe and North America, together with the General Secretariat, offered an intense two-day workshop on 27–29 April 2026, in the wonderful City of Visby on Gotland. Delegates from Augsburg, Bruges, Brussels, Dubrovnik, Gyeongju, Kutná Hora, Luxembourg, Neringa, Québec, Philadelphia, Regensburg, Split, Vilnius, Visby plus Swedish regional and national heritage delegates participated in a lively exchange, reflecting the regional breadth of the network.

Day 1 featured a Heritage Futures workshop organized by Worlfgang Dersch, Matthias Ripp and Monika Göttler (Project Officer, World Heritage Regensburg and OWHC Regional Secretariat for Northwest Europe and North America), together with Louise Hoffman Borgö from the city of Visby. The session was facilitated by Prof. Cornelius Holtorf, UNESCO Chair at Linnaeus University, which explored futures-thinking and UNESCO-aligned approaches to peacebuilding and long-term heritage stewardship in historic cities. The session left participants with new perspectives on anticipating and shaping future heritage challenges.

Day 2 brought the New Urban Process (NUP) Perception Test, facilitated by Mikhael des Thyse, OWHC Secretary General, and Andréanne Charest, Deputy Secretary General, to test the New Urban Process and its habitability framework across the four operational principles. The program included four workshops, one per principle, each with a roundtable of 5–6 short presentations followed by open discussions to identify obstacles, set objectives, and outline concrete next steps. The discussions highlighted themes such as ecological transition, regenerative economy, authenticity, and strengthening the financial and institutional capacities of historic centers.

Across the sessions, delegates shared concrete cases and practical insights from their cities, reinforcing the relevance of the NUP and prompting ideas for refining its governance and implementation.

A heartfelt thank you goes to Visby and its wonderful heritage team around Louise Hoffman Borgö and Mayor Meit Fohlin for their warm hospitality and for hosting a productive, collaborative gathering.