On September 27th, 2010 Berkeley Institute student Elizabeth Blankendal and three other students from The Berkeley Institute embarked on an ambitious, educational journey across the Atlantic Ocean to Lanarkshire, Scotland to participate in a conference on World Heritage Sites.

Elizabeth and Ashley Bento, Janae Smith and Sudan Furbert gave a presentation at the UNESCO Making Sense of Our World Heritage Site annual educators conference on September 28 and 29 and participated in the youth summit on October 1.

They were part of a delegation representing the Historic Town of St. George World Heritage Site in Bermuda that also included Mrs. Michelle Morris, Social Studies Coordinator and Mrs. Leondra Burchall, Director of Education at the St. George's Foundation.

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, is an agency that promotes education, communication and the arts.

"The aim of this Youth Summit," explained Elizabeth, "was to explore what World Heritage means to young people in Scotland and how they can help to preserve and protect the internationally important cultural and natural heritage on their doorstep."

Also represented at the Youth Summit were five World Heritage Sites in Scotland: Antonine Wall, Heart of Neolithic Orkney, New Lanark, Old and New Towns of Edinburgh and St. Kilda.

While attending the conference, Elizabeth was able to meet a diverse group of students who lived mainly in homogenous societies, and while being teamed up, she and the other students learned about each other's ethnicity and cultural backgrounds.

Elizabeth learnt a lot about different cultures and how people of other countries have their own way of life.

She described how she informed the foreigners about the beautiful island of Bermuda and its unique, historic features, together with its beautiful scenery and people.

Recalling her first impressions, Elizabeth described Scotland as very quaint, picturesque, and scenic.

"Scotland was like something I have never seen before, besides television," she said.

She also spoke of how it was a new experience trying different foods and observing different dress codes. Among the topics of discussion at the Youth Summit were the ways we can preserve and protect our cultural and natural heritage.

For the Historic Town of St. George this meant first 'Joining a Community'.

There are many communities and organisations in the world which are working to preserve and protect these sites.

We can work with these organisations, travel agencies, government groups and local communities. Important communities for protecting world heritage include UNESCO and World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism.

We should join these communities to support their cause. We can also donate to different community funds that will help them to protect world heritage sites.

The second way we can preserve and protect our community is 'Sustainable Tourism'. Another way to play our part is to pledge to travel responsibly.

Tourism can generate funds for the restoration of UNESCO sites, but at the same time unchecked tourism can damage them seriously.

We should not trash these places and visit world heritage sites in a responsible and sustainable way.

The third way is by 'Increasing our Awareness'. We should communicate the importance of saving and protecting heritage sites.

We should pass on the information we have and join hands to minimise the effects of different external forces on the world heritage sites.

The fourth and last way we can preserve and protect our cultural heritage is 'Personal Efforts.' Local people are the first and best stewards of these sites. They must respond responsibly and efficiently towards preservation of world heritage sites in their area.

The educational trip was part of a prize the16-year-old won when she participated in the annual St. Georges Day contest, celebrating World Heritage.

She created a poster and gave an oral presentation on the history of the Town of St. Georges.

For students that are interested in entering the contest in the future, Elizabeth encourages them to keep creative, always have a positive mind, and to view St. George from a different perspective based on fun and interesting facts.

While attending the conference she was able to have a greater appreciation for her own World Heritage site right here in Bermuda!