From May 26 to 28, Zacatecas hosted the 9th International Coordination Meeting among UNESCO Category 2 World Heritage Centers.

The meeting, organized by the Regional World Heritage Institute in Zacatecas (RWHIZ), took place in the Wixárika Room of the Zacatecas Museum and brought together representatives from Category 2 Heritage Centers in Brazil, South Africa, Spain, India, the Republic of Korea, and Mexico, as well as delegates from UNESCO, ICCROM, and the governments of Mexico and the state of Zacatecas.

Prominent attendees included Andrés Morales, from the UNESCO Office in Mexico; Arturo Balandrano, Director General of Sites and Monuments of the Ministry of Culture; Francisco Vidargas, Director of World Heritage at the INAH and Mexico's Cultural Focal Point to UNESCO; Carlos Alberto Torreblanca, Director of INAH Zacatecas; Isabel Medina González, from the UNESCO Chair in Conservation based at the ENCRyM; and Valerie Magar, representing ICCROM, a UNESCO advisory body.

Representing the Governor of the State of Zacatecas, David Monreal Ávila, were Le Roy Barragán Ocampo, Secretary of Tourism, and María de Jesús Muñoz, Director of the Zacatecas Institute of Culture "Ramón López Velarde." The event was coordinated by Carlos Augusto Torres Pérez, Director General of RWHIZ.

During the meeting, which included five working sessions, plus an opening and closing session, experiences and action plans were shared, coordination strategies were discussed, and follow-up mechanisms were established to strengthen collaboration among Category 2 Centers. All of this was achieved with the common goal of contributing to better implementation of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972).

The event concluded with the signing of the Zacatecas Declaration, a document that consolidates shared objectives, expresses the desire to strengthen international cooperation, and defines concrete mechanisms for joint work among the Centers.

Holding this meeting in Zacatecas represents recognition of the city and state's commitment to heritage conservation and positions Zacatecas as a regional benchmark in the field of World Heritage.