| Summary: |
In spite of its remarkable historical background and numerous historic
and cultural sites in the region, Central Asia and western China remain
one of the most under-represented regions on the World Heritage List,
with no cultural or natural heritage properties from Kyrgyzstan or
Tajikistan inscribed on the List.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS have been assisting
the States Parties in identifying new types of properties for World
Heritage nomination, such as the Silk Roads for serial and/or transnational
World Heritage nomination. Spanning a quarter of the globe, the
Silk Road includes several routes of integration, exchange and dialogue
between East and West that have contributed greatly to the common
prosperity of various civilizations over more than two millennia.
Their location across so many countries with different legal and
administrative systems, however, makes it very difficult to ensure
their conservation for future generations.
Previous consultation meetings were held in Turpan (August 2006,
China), Samarkand (October 2006, Uzbekistan) and Dushanbe (April
2007, Tajikistan), where the "Concept Document for the Serial
Nomination of the Silk Roads in Central Asia and China" was
adopted. The present workshop will bring together relevant authorities
of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
and China to further develop the preparation of Tentative Lists
for cultural heritage sites along the Silk Road. The workshop will
also invite representatives and experts from other countries such
as Afghanistan, Iran, Italy, Japan and Mongolia to review potential
cooperation on the serial World Heritage nomination of the Silk
Roads.
The meeting will address issues relating to World Heritage Tentative
Lists harmonization, statements of Outstanding Universal Value,
and management mechanisms for the serial and transnational World
Heritage nomination of the Silk Road. The meeting will also include
field visits to some cultural heritage sites around the Xi'an city
of Shaanxi Province of China.
This meeting is jointly organized by the UNESCO World Heritage
Centre and China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH),
in collaboration with the Xi'an Municipal Government of Shaanxi
Province, with financial support from the Netherlands Funds-In-Trust
and the Italian Funds-In-Trust.
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