Join us on Wednesday, January 15, as we unveil the 2025 World Monuments Watch, WMF's biennial selection of 25 treasured heritage places around the world facing urgent challenges and timely opportunities for preservation.
Since 1996, WMF has issued a call to action for nearly 900 sites through the World Monuments Watch, working with communities around the world to make a difference through projects ranging from raising awareness and physical conservation to preservation training programs.
Hosted by WMF President and CEO Bénédicte de Montlaur and Vice President of Programs Jonathan S. Bell, this virtual announcement event will include a presentation of the 2025 Watch sites and themes followed by a conversation with nominators from two sites selected for 2025 Watch.
ABOUT THE WORLD MONUMENTS WATCH
Launched in 1996, the World Monuments Watch is announced every two years and includes sites nominated by individuals and community-based organizations that span the globe. Since the program’s inception, the Watch has been a proven tool for raising awareness about heritage places in need of protection and galvanizing action and support for their preservation. Heritage sites can be nominated by any individual or organization, ensuring that the Watch remains a powerful platform for amplifying voices of local community members. Once submitted, nominations undergo extensive internal and external review by WMF experts, practitioners in the field, and an independent panel of international heritage experts who shape the final selection.
To date, World Monuments Fund has contributed more than $120 million toward projects at nearly 350 Watch sites, with the visibility provided by the Watch helping communities leverage an additional $300 million from other sources.
Join us on Wednesday, January 15, as we unveil the 2025 World Monuments Watch, WMF's biennial selection of 25 treasured heritage places around the world facing urgent challenges and timely opportunities for preservation.
Since 1996, WMF has issued a call to action for nearly 900 sites through the World Monuments Watch, working with communities around the world to make a difference through projects ranging from raising awareness and physical conservation to preservation training programs.
Hosted by WMF President and CEO Bénédicte de Montlaur and Vice President of Programs Jonathan S. Bell, this virtual announcement event will include a presentation of the 2025 Watch sites and themes followed by a conversation with nominators from two sites selected for 2025 Watch.
ABOUT THE WORLD MONUMENTS WATCH
Launched in 1996, the World Monuments Watch is announced every two years and includes sites nominated by individuals and community-based organizations that span the globe. Since the program’s inception, the Watch has been a proven tool for raising awareness about heritage places in need of protection and galvanizing action and support for their preservation. Heritage sites can be nominated by any individual or organization, ensuring that the Watch remains a powerful platform for amplifying voices of local community members. Once submitted, nominations undergo extensive internal and external review by WMF experts, practitioners in the field, and an independent panel of international heritage experts who shape the final selection.
To date, World Monuments Fund has contributed more than $120 million toward projects at nearly 350 Watch sites, with the visibility provided by the Watch helping communities leverage an additional $300 million from other sources.
About the Speakers
Bénédicte de Montlaur
President and CEO, World Monuments Fund
Bénédicte de Montlaur is President and Chief Executive Officer of World Monuments Fund (WMF), the world’s foremost private organization dedicated to saving extraordinary places while empowering the communities around them. She is responsible for defining WMF’s strategic vision, currently implementing that vision in more than 30 countries around the world and leading a team that spans the globe. Her background mixes culture and the arts, politics, international diplomacy and human rights. Prior to joining WMF, Montlaur spent two decades working across three continents as a senior diplomat at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Jonathan S. Bell
Vice President of Programs, World Monuments Fund
Dr. Jonathan S. Bell came to World Monuments Fund from National Geographic Society, where he oversaw a large portfolio of projects that included archaeological research and cultural heritage. Over the course of his career, he worked with the Getty Conservation Institute on World Heritage Sites in China and Egypt, evaluated cultural site management from Kazakhstan to Colombia, and oversaw strategic planning for largescale flood infrastructure for the County of Los Angeles. Dr. Bell serves on multiple ICOMOS scientific committees as an expert member and sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Architectural Conservation. He holds a BA from Harvard University, a DEA from the Sorbonne, an MSc in Historic Preservation from Columbia University, and a PhD in Urban Planning from UCLA.
Other Events
Amphithéâtre Liard
17, rue de La Sorbonne
75005 Paris
France
Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre
Victoria & Albert Museum
Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
United Kingdom
The New York Public Library
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
New York City
45 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, New York 10111
United States