Francesco Bandarin is an Architect and Urban Planner, specialized in Urban Conservation. He holds degrees in Architecture (IUAV Venice) and City and Regional Planning (UC Berkeley) and has been Professor of Urban Planning and Urban Conservation at the University of Venice (IUAV) from 1980 to 2016.
From 2000 to 2010 he was Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Secretary of the World Heritage Convention. From 2010 to 2018 he served as Assistant DirectorGeneral of UNESCO for Culture.
He is a member of the Managing Board of the Santagata Foundation for the Economy of Culture (Turin, Italy) and founder and member of OUR WORLD HERITAGE. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Springer Series on Creativity Culture and the City. He consults for governments and heritage projects in different parts of the world.