Vietnam aims to solve the relations between economic development and cultural preservation. Vietnamese cultural departments and activists have tried to preserve the historical and cultural relics in the country.

Vietnam now has more than 40,000 historical relics. These relics of various forms and history are treasures for future generations.

However, hundreds of relics are severely damaged due to the negative influence of time, war and human activities. Head of Hanoi Relics Management Board, Nguyen Doan Tuan, says rescue work must preserve the relics' soul: "We cannot replace ruined construction with new materials. We must preserve its shape, size and style. We need to pay attention to every brick replaced so that it looks exactly like the original."

Most relics have to rely on tourist fee for repair and rescue work. Director of Van Mieu Cultural and Science Center, Dang Kim Ngoc, says that the relics must be promoted widely to attract more visitors and bring in more income for repair and preservation: "We provide constant guide services for visitors so that they understand more about our relics. At the same time, a natural surroundings of the relic has been ensured, including the grass field and garden to improve its scenic value "

The local government agreed that the relics must be turned to the community for shared efforts in the preservation work. Director of Vietnam Revolution Museum DangQuoc Quan, said that the community must be guided in the preservation and protection, "The UNESCO aims to let local community take part in the preservation of relics. We have seen limitations in the preservation of relics, especially festival related groups of buildings. This requires management and guidance by the government.”

Nguyen ThiMinh Ly from the Department of Heritage says the community should be guided in proper behaviors towards relics: "This will ensure the protection of cultural relics in later generations. Creative restoration（修复）must be based on previous values.”

Experts have called for a systematic（系统的）guidance by the state in local level preservation while promoting creative thinking in restoration for each relic.

From Italy to Indonesia, major restoration works are underway to preserve and improve some of the world’s most historic sites.

Italy

It’s seen beasts, battles and bloody executions, and now the world’s most iconic arena is seeing…a floor. An architecture company has decided to restore the Colosseum’s floor to its former glory and allow visitors to admire the 1,950-year-old building from its centre, where gladiators once fought. Set for completion in 2023, the 32,300 square feet surface will be made up of narrow pieces of wood that can let light and air into the rooms beneath.

England

Hadrian’s Wall marks its 1,900th anniversary next year and is set to receive £30m in government and charity funding, with the goal of improving transport links and upgrading visitor centres. It’s hoped the wall will become one of the nation's top landmarks. Key to the strategy is its Game of Thrones connection — the Wall in George R. R. Martin’s novels was inspired by a visit to the site.

France

After numerous setbacks following the 2019 fire, the restoration of Notre-Dame cathedral is set to pick up the pace this summer. Charity Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris has set up an appeal for donations to help preserve the church’s treasures. Donors can choose where their money goes — whether it's on artworks, holy relics or the famous ugly character.

Indonesia

Coral reefs are among the planet’s oldest ecosystems, but they face a dangerous future. At the Sheba Hope Reef, off the island of Sulawesi, 19,000 reef stars, seeded with 285,000 coral fragments, have been planted as part of what’s praised as the world’s biggest coral restoration project. The scheme is led by cat food brand Sheba, whose aim to ensure a sustainable fish population benefits cats, as well as the 500 million people whose livelihoods depend on reefs.

Documentation of cultural heritage sites can both raise public awareness and lay the foundation for short-term recovery operations and long-term conservation plans.

The Ancient City of Aleppo

In December 2018, UNESCO and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research Operational Satellite Application Programme published (出版) Five Years of Conflict: The State of Cultural Heritage in the Ancient City of Aleppo, using satellite images, which allowed for sites in unreachable areas to be viewed for the first time since the start of the conflict. UNESCO’s cultural heritage experts worked closely with teams from UNITAR-UNOSAT, as well as historians, architects and archaeologists, to study the images, finding that more than 10 percent of the historic buildings of Aleppo have been completely destroyed and more than half have suffered different levels of damage.

A second study, examining the state of all Syrian properties on the World Heritage List, as well as on the country’s Tentative List, was carried out in 2019.

The Minaret of Jam (宣礼塔)

New technologies were also used to safeguard cultural heritage in Afghanistan in 2018. The Minaret of Jam is believed to have been built between 1163 and 1203. Its lonely position in Ghor Province, Afghanistan, at the spot where the Hari Rud River meets the Jam Rud River, may have helped protect it over the centuries, but it also makes the protection challenging. In September 2017, UNESCO experts, along with Afghan officials from the Ministry of Information and Culture, carried out the first survey of the inside and outside parts of the minaret, along with a general survey of the area, using drone technology. Video footage was published in February 2018, allowing the world to see the state of one of Afghanistan’s most fragile heritage sites.