Credit: GSTE

Bath will provide a great location for us to decide the next steps in the care and preservation of our common world heritage
– Stefan Szirucsek

The Great Spa Towns of Europe association (GSTE) is holding its second General Assembly in the UK’s World Heritage city of Bath on 2 March 2023.

The GSTE is a serial transnational World Heritage Site which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2021. Bath is the largest of the 11 spa towns and will host the General Assembly at the Guildhall.

The agenda

World Heritage site manager Tony Crouch said: “With its double World Heritage inscription, Bath is well placed to share examples of best practice and over 30 years of experience in this technical field with delegates who’re gathering not only to discuss the business of the GSTE but to celebrate and learn during their three days in the city.

“This is a great opportunity for my GSTE colleagues to experience Bath’s unique architecture and to learn about how we manage our World Heritage Site.

“Although the programme is tightly packed, we’ll be taking in the Royal Crescent and Circus, and visiting the City’s latest prestigious projects, including the Bath Abbey Footprint Project, Sydney Gardens, Cleveland Pools and our new World Heritage Centre.”

Not forgetting the city's thermal waters – which were the original reason for the development of Bath – some delegates will have a chance to bathe at Thermae Bath Spa, before experiencing the Roman Baths at night for a drinks reception and dinner hosted by the leader of Bath and North East Somerset Council, councillor Kevin Guy.

The mayors of the GSTE will also meet the mayor of Bath, councillor Robert Appleyard, for afternoon tea.

Mayor of Baden bei Wien in Austria and GSTE chair, Stefan Szirucsek, said: “As one of the best known GSTE, Bath will provide a great location to decide the next steps in the care and preservation of our common world heritage.”

AttendeesThe meeting brings together all the mayors and site managers from the 11 towns, as well as Chiara Ronchini, who took up her new role as secretary general of the GSTE just two weeks ago.

Also in attendance will be representatives of the seven State Parties which are the national representative of the seven countries of the GSTE, including Alexandra Warr – the UK’s representative and head of international strategy at Historic England.

They’ll be joined by:

• Her excellency Laura Davies, ambassador and permanent delegate for the UK Delegation to UNESCO.• James Bridge, secretary general and CEO of the UK National Commission for UNESCO.

• Ruth Pröckl, the incoming chair of the new GTSE Intergovernmental Committee and head of National Coordination World Heritage Austria.

Changing of the guardLocal World Heritage and Spa expert and consultant, Paul Simons now becomes a special advisor to the GSTE, having served as its secretary general since 2013, after three years of involvement in the early stages of the project.

He said: “This will be my last meeting with all the members of the GSTE and it’s a bitter-sweet moment.

“It’s been an immense privilege to work with this group and I have to pay tribute to the many talented experts and dedicated politicians and officers who’ve helped me see this project through to this stage. I’m very proud of our collective achievement so far and am very happy that as a special adviser, I'll remain involved in the future.”

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