29.Get acquainted with the abstracts from the unesco World Heritage

Site * to develop your own project. Pay attention to the ‘Election criteria’

section.

Of-course, you’ve recognized these historical sites. They are protected and maintained by the International World Heritage Program which is administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee

❐ A White House conference in 1965 called for a "World Heritage Trust" to preserve "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present

and the future of the entire world citizenry." A single text was agreed on by all parties, and the "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural

Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972.

❐ The World Heritage Sites are places that are significant culturally and naturally; they vary in type but include forests, lakes, monuments, buildings and cities. World Heritage Sites can also be a combination of both cultural and natural areas. Today the World Heritage Committee is the main group responsible for establishing which sites will be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Committee meets once a year and consists of representatives from 21 State Parties that are elected for six year terms by the World Heritage Center’s General Assembly.

❐ Nominating process

The World Heritage Centre offers advice and help in preparing the Nomination File. At this point, the file is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union. These bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. The Committee meets once per year to determine whether or not to inscribe each nominated property on the World Heritage List, and sometimes defers the decision to request more information from the states. There are ten selection criteria - a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list.

❐ Election criteria

Nominated sites must be of "outstanding universal value" and meet at least one of the ten criteria:

§ I. "to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius";

§ II. "to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design";

§ III. "to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared";

§ IV. "to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history";

§ V. "to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change";

§ VI. "to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria.)

§ VII. "to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.

§ VIII. "to be outstanding examples representing major stages of Earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features";

§ IX. "to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals";

§ X. "to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-site conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation."