2009 - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

2008 - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

2007 - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

30 June

• Belize barrier reef and Los Katios park in danger
  The Belize Barrier Reef System and Los Katios National Park in Columbia are the two natural sites added to the List of World Heritage in Danger, following the advice of IUCN. Composed of seven protected areas, many small mangrove islands and coastal lagoons, the Belize Barrier Reef System is home to a number of threatened species, including marine turtles and the American crocodile. A series of technical assessments and a joint IUCN/UNESCO monitoring mission to Belize in March 2009 revealed alarming developments such as extensive mangrove cutting and sale of mangrove islands. The Belize Barrier Reef, the largest in the Northern Hemisphere, is also the country’s top tourist destination.

• World Heritage in Danger - IUCN
  The Danger List of World Heritage Sites needs radical change if is to remain an effective conservation tool, according to a report released today by IUCN. Under the 1972 World Heritage Convention, the World Heritage Committee can inscribe sites under serious threat on the List of World Heritage in Danger. It is intended to be a constructive conservation tool, which mobilizes the international community to support national efforts. But according to the IUCN report, World Heritage in Danger, putting a site on the danger list is often seen by Governments as criticism resulting in frequent opposition to its use. According to IUCN, the List of World Heritage in Danger needs to be re-established as a way to ensure and maintain credible standards for protecting the world’s natural and cultural treasures.

• Tubbataha Reefs National Park, the Philippines
  Angelique Songco, Park Manager of Tubbataha Reefs National Park, explains a bit more about the park as part of this month's focus on protected areas.

• IUCN World Heritage 2009 Image Gallery
  IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. It supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice.

• IUCN at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting, Spain
  What do the Serengeti, the Great Barrier Reef and the Galapagos Islands have in common? They are among the world’s most outstanding natural areas that have been designated as a World Heritage site and placed under the guardianship of the international community. World Heritage sites make up some 8% of the world’s protected areas and are places of cultural or natural significance. IUCN is the official technical advisory body to the World Heritage Committee on natural heritage. This year there is a focus on making sure marine conservation is fully addressed by the Convention. Almost 200 of the 878 World Heritage Sites are listed for their natural values and 37 are protected for their marine biodiversity values.

• Biosphere Reserves which are wholly or partially World Heritage sites
  Biosphere reserves are sites recognized under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme, which innovate and demonstrate approaches to conservation and sustainable development. They are of course under national sovereign jurisdiction, yet share their experience and ideas nationally, regionally and internationally within the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. There are 531 sites worldwide in 105 countries.

29 June

• Film Proyection: "Welterbe in Gefahr: Dresden und die Unesco"
  Gleich an zwei Tagen hintereinander kommen spannende Dokus ins TV – produziert von LE Vision. Hochaktueller Streit: Welterbe in Gefahr: Dresden und die Unesco. 30.06.09, 23:00 Uhr bei ARTE

• First Ibero-American World Heritage Youth Forum
  http://www.patrimoniojoven.com/
  Spain, host of the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee, is organizing the first Ibero-American World Heritage Youth Forum. Participants will be young people between 12 and 15 years old who attend in their country of origin a secondary school affiliated with the UNESCO ASPnet Schools Network, and who are acquainted with the World Heritage in Young Hands programme. During the week-long event in Seville, these students will attend workshops, tours, lectures and discussions on topics related to World Heritage. Participates in the Youth Forum will come from different Ibero-American countries, as well as the special guest country, Morocco.

• Jaeger-LeCoultre and the International Herald Tribune continue to support the World Heritage Marine Programme
  The Tides of Time programme, initiated in 2008 through a partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre and the International Herald Tribune, has entered its second year. The year began with coverage of sites such as Sian Kaan in Mexico and the Everglades in the USA. Other sites including the Atoll of Aldabra (Seychelles), Sundarbans (Bangladesh/India), Shiretoko (Japan), and the Peninsula Valdez (Argentina) should be the focus of this year's campaign. The partnership, implemented over a period of three years, has also generated support for the site of Tubbataha (Philippines) through an online auction organized by Jaeger-LeCoultre. In addition, a new version of the online component of the media campaign was launched in time for redesign and integration of the IHT and NYT internet sites. Jaeger-LeCoultre funding for the Programme will also enable the World Heritage Centre to carry out projects in support of Marine site preservation in 2010.

• Maps of World Heritage sites in Democratic Republic of the Congo presented by Belgian Federal Science Policy Office
  On 13 March 2009 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the latest maps of World Heritage sites produced by the Belgian universities of Louvain (UCL) and Gand (UGent), with the financial support of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) were officially presented to the Congo Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN). The General Director for the ICCN, Mr Cosma Wilungula Balongelwa and the directors of Kahuzi-Biega National Park and Virunga National Park World Heritage sites, Mr Radar Nishuli and Mr Emmanuel de Merode, received the maps from Mme Brigitte Decadt of BELSPO. Maps of three other sites, Garamba and Salonga National Parks and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, had already been presented to ICCN three years earlier, on 14 March 2006...

• 13 new sites have been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List which lost one site while three were placed on the Danger List
  The World Heritage Committee holding its 33rd session chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, has inscribed two new natural sites and 11 cultural sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Since it also withdrew one site - from the List, Dresden Elbe Valley (Germany), the List now numbers a total of 890 properties. The Committee also inscribed three sites on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger to help raise international support for their preservation. One site was removed from the Danger List. More sites may be inscribed on the Danger List as the Committee continues examining state of conservation reports on Tuesday. During the session, which is scheduled to end on 30 June, three countries had their first World Heritage sites inscribed on UNESCO’s List of properties recognized as having outstanding universal value. They are, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and Kyrgyzstan.

• Georgia’s Historical Monuments of Mtskheta inscribed on Danger List
  The World Heritage Committee, chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, inscribed the Historical Monuments of Mtskheta (Georgia) on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of concerns over their preservation. The Committee asked Georgia to adopt an integrated management plan for the site and address problems related to the serious deterioration of the stonework and frescoes at the site. Other issues of concern include the management of land near the churches, and loss of authenticity due to work carried out in the buildings, inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1994. The site comprises the historic churches of Mtskheta, former capital of Georgia which represent outstanding examples of the high accomplishments of medieval religious architecture in the Caucasus.

• Cities of Caral-Supe (Peru) and Levoca (Slovakia) added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List
  The Sacred City of Caral-Supe (Peru), the oldest centre of civilization in the Americas, was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee, chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO. The Committee also added the historic centre of the town of Levoca to the Slovak World Heritage site of Spišský Hrad inscribed on the List in 1993. The extended site is to be known as Levoca, Spišský and the Associated Cultural Monument.

• British Aqueduct and Canal inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, French Saltworks extended
  The World Heritage Committee, chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, has inscribed Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal (United Kingdom) on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and added France’s Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains as an extension to the site of Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, which was inscribed in 1982 and now becomes From Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the production of open-pan salt.

• Tower of Hercules (Spain) inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List alongside two Swiss watch-making towns
  The World Heritage Committee, chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, has inscribed a Spanish lighthouse dating back to antiquity, The Tower of Hercules in La Coruña, on the World Heritage List alongside the watch-manufacturing towns of La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle watch-making town-planning (Switzerland).

• Stoclet House (Belgium) inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List
  The World Heritage Committee, chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, has inscribed the Stoclet House, a private residence in the Belgian capital Brussels, on the World Heritage List.

• Ruins of Loropéni (Burkina Faso) inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List
  Burkina Faso joined the rank of countries that have World Heritage properties on their territory with the inscription of the Ruins of Loropéni on UNESCO’s List on Friday.

• Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System and Colombia’s Los Katios National Park enter UNESCO’s Danger List
  The World Heritage Committee meeting in Seville, under the chair of María Jesús San Segundo, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, has decided to inscribe Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System and Colombia’s Los Katios National Park on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The main problem with Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System concerns mangrove cutting and excessive development in the property which was inscribed in 1996 as largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, with offshore atolls, several hundred sand cays, mangrove forests, coastal lagoons and estuaries. While requesting stricter control of development on the site, the Committee also requested that the moratorium on mangrove cutting on the site which expired in 2008 be reinstated.

• Sacred mountain in Kyrgyzstan enters List along with Iran’s Shushtar water system and Royal tombs in Republic of Korea
  Sulamain-Too Sacred Mountain of Kyrgyzstan has become the country’s first site to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System, Bridges, dams, canals, buildings and watermills from ancient time to present and the Royal Tombs of the Joseong Dynasty (Republic of Korea) were also added to the List on Friday.

26 June

• China’s sacred Buddhist Mount Wutai inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List
  The World Heritage Committee, chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, has inscribed China’s Mount Wutai on UNESCO’s World Heritage List as a cultural landscape. With its five flat peaks, Mount Wutai is a sacred Buddhist mountain. The cultural landscape numbers 53 monasteries and includes the East Main Hall of Foguang Temple, the highest surviving timber Building of the Tang Dynasty with life size clay sculptures. It also features the Ming Dynasty Shuxiang Temple with a huge complex of 500 statues representing Buddhist stories woven into three dimensional pictures of mountains and water.

• Cidade Velha becomes Cape Verde's first World Heritage site
  Cidade Velha has been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List, marking Cape Verde's entry to the international community's inventory of properties of outstanding universal value. The World Heritage Committee, chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, inscribed the historic centre, which dates back to the late 15th century and bears testimony to the history of Europe's colonial presence in Africa and to the history of slavery. The town of Ribeira Grande, renamed Cidade Velha in the late 18th century, was the first European colonial outpost in the tropics. Located in the south of the island of Santiago, the town features some of the original street layout impressive remains including two churches, a royal fortress and Pillory Square with its ornate 16th century marble pillar.

• [français] Pourquoi faire inscrire un bien sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l’humanité?
  D’aucuns s’interro-gent légitimement sur l’importance de la ratification et la mise en oeuvre de la convention concernant la protection du patrimoine mondial, culturel et naturel. La ratification de cette convention est une étape importante mais sa mise en oeuvre en est une autre. Des demandes d’inscription des biens sur la liste du patrimoine mondial sont soumises par les Etats parties à la convention de 1972. Mais tant que les parties prenantes à la gestion d’un bien ne sont pas impliquées et ne voient pas l’intérêt de cet acte, aucun résultat tangible ne peut être atteint. La convention du patrimoine mondial a été adoptée par la Confé-rence générale de l’UNESCO à Paris le 16 novembre 1972. Elle réunit pour le moment 186 Etats parties. Ceux-ci sont invi-tés à la mettre en oeuvre notamment par la soumission au Co-mité du Patrimoine mondial d’un inventaire communément ap-pelé « liste indicative » des biens culturels, naturels ou mixtes susceptibles d’être inscrits sur la liste du patrimoine mondial. C’est au sein de ces biens inscrits sur cette liste, que les Etats parties à la convention choisissent l’un ou l’autre bien à soumettre pour inscription sur la liste du patrimoine mondial. Pour que ce bien soit inscrit, il doit comporter une valeur exceptionnelle universelle...

• [français] Lancement de la préparation du dossier d’inscription du paysage culturel des chutes de la Lobé (Cameroun) sur la Liste du patrimoine mondial
  Un Expert International de l’UNESCO, Madame Katri LI-SITZIN a effectué du 19 au 31 mai 2009, une mission au Cameroun. Cette mission était axée sur la Visite d’identifica-tion à Kribi du 24 au 26 mai ac-compagnée de la participation à la réunion avec les parties prenantes; ainsi que l’animation du 27 au 29 mai 2009 à Yaoun-dé, d’un atelier de formation et de préparation du dossier de nomination, atelier regroupant les experts des différents ministères devant être impliqués dans la gestion du paysage culturel susmentionné. Le Représentant de l’UNESCO, Monsieur Benoît SOSSOU dans son mot de bienvenu, s’est dit réjoui de l’initiative prise par le Ministère de la Culture pour l’organisation de cet atelier. A l’issue des trois jours qu’à duré l’atelier, plusieurs recomman-dations ont été formulées. Cette mission préparait l’inscription sur la liste du Patrimoine Mondial du dossier relatif au paysage culturel des chutes de la Lobé.

25 June

• World heritage: Dresden delisted
  “Every time we fail to preserve a site, we share the pain of the State Party,” declared María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO who is chairing the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee presently underway in Seville on Thursday.The World Heritage Committee decided to remove Germany’s Dresden Elbe Valley from UNESCO’s World Heritage List due to the building of a four-lane bridge in the heart of the cultural landscape which meant that the property failed to keep its “outstanding universal value as inscribed.”

• World Heritage Committee removes Baku from Danger List, welcoming improvements in the ancient city’s preservation
  The World Heritage Committee has welcomed the success of the authorities of Azerbaijan in preserving the Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshahs’ Palace and Maiden Tower, and decided to remove the property from UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger. The site, which sustained damage during the earthquake of November 2000, was inscribed on the Danger List in 2003. The site was then also noted to be negatively affected by the pressure of urban development, the absence of conservation policies and by dubious restoration efforts. Improvements in its management have since allowed for the site to secure the outstanding universal value for which it was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2000. Built on a site inhabited since the Paleolithic period, the Walled City of Baku reveals evidence of Zoroastrian, Sasanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian presence in cultural continuity. The Inner City (Icheri Sheher) has preserved much of its 12th-century defensive walls. The 12th-century Maiden Tower (Giz Galasy) is built over earlier structures dating from the 7th to 6th centuries BC, and the 15th-century Shirvanshahs' Palace is one of the pearls of Azerbaijan's architecture.

24 June

• José Maria Abecasis Soares & José Tavares begin their journey to five World Heritage glaciers
  José Maria and José, founders of the ICE CARE project, left UNESCO Headquaters in Paris this morning following a meeting with Mr Kishore Rao, Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre, to begin their 4 year project at five of the World Heritage Glaciers. The purpose of the expeditions will be to raise awareness about the threats to these melting ice caps. It is upon reading the recent Case Studies of sites affected by Climate Change published by the World Heritage Centre (http://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/473/) that these experienced climbers decided to develop the initiative and travel to Jungfrau Aletsch (Switzerland), Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Huascaran (Peru), Ilulissat (Denmark) and Sagarmatha (Nepal). They will be reporting on the expeditions' findings through their website and will also be keeping the World Heritage Centre regularly updated.

• Training course Management of World Heritage Sites in Slovakia. Ainova (Slovakia)
  In partnership with the Slovak Monument Board the curriculum of a new course of 100 lecture hours were compiled. The training course reacts to a current need for developing management plans in Slovak sites listed in the World Heritage List. Lectures will be provided by renowned Slovak and foreign experts. Training is designed for representatives of local governments but also for other key players from the public and private sectors who can contribute to the development of a given site. AINova’s knowledge and experience in strategic planning of local development was used when compiling the curriculum. The project was supported by Fond PSS, a. s. and the Slovak Ministry of Culture.

• (in Spanish) Preservación y conservación de Tiwanacu, y de la Pirámide de Akapana (Bolivia)
  El Tiwanaku es uno de los sitios arqueológicos pre-incaicos más importantes de Bolivia y representa uno de los escenarios clave de la historia y del desarrollo cultural de territorios como Perú, Chile, Argentina y Bolivia. Este sitio patrimonial ha sido durante muchos años lugar de exploración, excavación e investigación; sin embargo, es un proyecto tiene solamente un 6% de exploración. Por esta razón, recientemente autoridades locales han demostrado un gran interés en propiciar excavaciones e iniciar actividades de conservación en el sitio. El proyecto “Preservación y Conservación del Tiwanaku y de la Pirámide de Akapana” no solo está enfocado a la investigación y preservación del sitio patrimonial como tal, si no también promueve vías alternas que promueven el desarrollo económico con enfoque comunitario.

23 June

• Twenty-seven new sites up for inscription on UNESCO World Heritage List as Committee opens session in Seville
  The 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee, chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, opened on 22 June in Seville, Spain. During the session, which ends on June 30, the Committee´s 21 members will review the state of conservation of properties inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and 27 nominations for new inscriptions of cultural and natural sites on the List. The opening featured addresses by: Ángeles González-Sinde Reig, Spain’s Minister of Culture; Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of UNESCO; José Antonio Griñán, President of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia; Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín, Mayor of Seville; George N. Anastassopoulos, President of UNESCO’s General Conference; and Olabiyi Babalola Joseph Yaï, Chairman of the Organization’s Executive Board.

19 June

• WHTour: 1001 Wonders - Mekong Valley
  1001wonders.org (formerly world-heritage-tour.org) is listing 1001 cultural and natural sites around the world and is documenting them in panophotographies - immersive and interactive panoramic images. Today 272 sites have been visited : 254 are available on this web site, 18 are currently in post-production and will soon be uploaded. Altogether there are 2099 panophotographies. This project is building a museum atlas which is interactive, immersive, without border and for educational purposes. It is also a testimony and a documentary inventory of natural and cultural sites to future generations.

• The return of rocks – The sorry rock phenomenon at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park by Dr Jasmine Foxlee (Australia)
  Each day the joint managers of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park receive packages of returned rocks and sand that have been removed from the landscape by visitors as a souvenir of the place. The returned objects, known within the Park as the ‘sorry rocks’, are sent from people all over the world as the stories of this phenomenon travel well beyond the Park boundaries. In this research, the sorry rocks were used as a medium for examining the complex relationships that exist between visitors, heritage management and interpretation. Jasmine Foxlee graduated from the School of Social Sciences at the University of Western Sydney with a PhD in April this year. She has worked on heritage and interpretation projects in a variety of places within Australia and is a Director of Stepwise Heritage and Tourism. Members and the public are welcome. Refreshments will be available. This is part of a series of talks organised in Canberra by Australia ICOMOS. Time & Date: 5.00-6.30 pm, Thursday 25 June 2009 – the talk will actually start at 5.30. Venue: Menzies Room, National Archives of Australia, East Block, Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes (enter from Kings Avenue side). RSVP: To Duncan Marshall at marsd@ozemail.com.au

18 June

• June 22 - Popular university: “Loire and Culture - Loire and Future” - How the Loire’s river landscape was built, especially for what concerns its urban environment?
  This appointment consists in a series of scientific conferences for the general public. Academics and researchers will gather to present a part of their knowledge, discoveries and analysis. The first part of the day will refer to the historical and cultural analysis of the essential role played by the river in the structuring of the Loire landscapes. The second part will turn to the present - in a perspective of historical continuity - and will focus on the consideration of landscape in the adaptation projects of the Val de Loire as well as in the restoration of a link between the inhabitants and their river. In particular, can the river nowadays cover a need for nature thanks to landscaping and adaptation projects of its banks?

• Landscape evenings to understand UNESCO’s Inscription “Memory landscape, landscape to live” Val de Loire (France)
  This could be the title for the nine landscape evenings organized by the Mission Val de Loire within the framework of the Rendez- vous of World Heritage, from June 20 to July 8 throughout the Val de Loire. Everyone is invited to participate in the discussions and meet heritage thanks to the discovery routes and reading sessions of the landscapes.

• The Youth hostels in World Heritage Cities
  Youth hostels in World Heritage Cities are gateways to the most beautiful places on earth. Our network of Hostelling International establishments rewards travelers in historical cities seeking comfortable lodgings at affordable rates. We’ll make you feel welcome no matter where you stop on your journey through our world’s heritage!

• The Network of the Great Sites of France, International training partner for the managers of heritage sites
  The 2009 Edition of the intensive training cycle organized by the Arts et Métiers Paris Tech Centre Cluny (CNAM), under the auspices of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, was completed on March 28 by the debriefing of training courses at the University of Burgundy in Dijon that supports this action. Twenty French speaking site managers, from the Czech Republic, Canada, Morocco, Madagascar, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mongolia, Belgium and France, participated within the prestigious framework of the Abbey of Cluny in a week of exchange of experience and training provided by professionals, academics and UNESCO experts which was completed with field visits.

• New receiving device to the Great Site of Saint-Guilhem le Désert, Herault Gorges (France)
  An impressive crowd to celebrate the new house of the Great Site established at the bottom of the gorges. The Les Anges footbridge, built by Rudy Ricciotti, allows getting to the Bridge of the Devil (UNESCO); and as of this summer, shuttles will allow access to Saint Guilhem and thus alleviate the town of the excess of cars. Deserved honors for the designers, the team of the Community of municipalities of the Valley of Herault, responsible for the project Grand Site and the State services.

17 June

• ATEMIA accompanies the group proMONT-BLANC
  Atemia wishes to give, besides modest financial support, its time to associations whose human and temporary resources are sometimes limited and can jeopardize remarkable projects. Therefore, within the framework of an approach of voluntary competences, Atemia accompanies proMONT-BLANC, a group composed of Italian, Swiss and French associations, militant since 2002 for the protection of this exceptional massif in UNESCO. Aware of this approach aimed at raising awareness among the population with the purpose of making the Mont Blanc massif a sustainable development model, Atemia wished to offer its time to the cross-border organization. We participate in the definition of the communication plan, providing our competences in the field, in terms of strategy, press relations, conception of messages and supports. proMONT-BLANC has already drafted a first report available online, which evaluates the “health” of Mont Blanc with the help of only one tool: the “Mont Blanc thermometer”.

16 June

• [italiano] A Napoli una fondazione per il Centro storico. Il 22 giugno la nomina degli organi sociali
  La rinascita del Centro storico di Napoli passa da una fondazione. Il progetto si avvarrà del sostegno della Fondazione per il Sud, presieduta da Carlo Alfiero.
  Si tratta di una “fondazione di comunità“, spiega Alfiero, un ente no-profit che, grazie all’azione di raccolta di donazioni in un determinato territorio, rappresenta uno strumento di sussidiarietà, già adottato con successo nel Nord Italia e nel mondo, ma finora assente nel contesto meridionale. La fondazione per il Centro storico di Napoli non è in realtà il primo esempio nel Mezzogiorno. Il primo ente di comunità è infatti quello nato di recente a Salerno. Il numero uno della Fondazione per il Sud spiega che la fondazione partenopea si basa un meccanismo di auto-sviluppo che consente di raccogliere piccole donazioni e di metterle a frutto della collettività di riferimento.

• Savonnières: taking to the water of a mediaeval chasse-marée
  On 13 June 2009, this event will take the public back in time to find out more about sailing along the Loire. The reconstruction of the mediaeval chasse-marée, a flat-bottomed boat, is a cultural and heritage-focused project launched by the Bateliers du Cher and François Beaudoin, an archaeological specialist of river boats. The boat took more than 3 years to build, requiring archaeological and carpentry knowledge to rediscover the rules of construction and traditional techniques employed.

• Causses Cévennes, candidate for inclusion in the World Heritage List
  At the next Session of the World Heritage Committee from 22 to 30 June 2009 in Seville, France will put forward this site as a cultural, changing and living landscape. The same qualification as the Val de Loire in fact. The application is presented by the Association de valorisation de l’espace Causses Cévennes (AVECC) which encompasses the Ardèche, Aveyron, Gard, Hérault and Lozère counties. Following an initial examination in 2006, the project holders completed their application by promoting agro-pastoralism. The architectural and urban work by Le Corbusier is also being presented by France, as part of a transnational application.

• La Loire à Vélo: the Pays de la Loire is helping tourism service providers
  With the “Accueil La Loire à Vélo” call for projects, the Pays de la Loire Regional Council can now provide funding for accommodation owners, bike rental companies, tourist offices, sights and leisure centres located along the “La Loire à vélo” cycle route who would like to develop their site or facilities for tourists with bicycles.

12 June

• Exhibition of the students’ works of the School of Chaillot - Couvent des minimes - Citadel of Blaye (France) 29 June 2009
  Please find attached the INVITATION to the presentation of the students’ works of the School of Chaillot produced within the framework of the Workshops of Chaillot, on June 29 at 18h00 in the convent of Minimes of the Citadel of Blaye on the estuary of Gironde. Contact: Lydie Fouilloux, electronic mail: lfouilloux@citechaillot.fr

11 June

• Applications currently accepted for new MA in World Heritage Resource Management - Bournemouth University (Talbot Campus) - United Kingdom
  The unit provides a broad but critical understanding of the theoretical ideas surrounding heritage, itself interpreted broadly, to include natural heritage, and cultural heritage, from sites and buildings to landscapes, collections and the intangible heritage. At the end of the unit you should have a clear picture of the task that the heritage manager faces.

8 June

• OVPM City2City: Call for comments - Quebec, Canada
  The city of Quebec passed in 2007 the implementation of a “Development and management strategy for the establishments of tourist lodging for the historic district of Old Quebec”. This action is within the framework of the master plan of the Old-Quebec district, one of whose directions is to keep a balance between residential tourism activities and adapt to the market tendencies in lodging. It has the ultimate objective to offer a suitable management framework for the tourist lodging establishments and an up-to-date regulation framework.

• The city of Verona (Italy)
  Homeland of Paolo Caliari called “the Veronese”, one of the great painters of the Venetian Golden Age, Verona called the attention of Goethe, Stendhal and Paul Valery before becoming, half a century ago, one of the most valued tourist destinations of Northern Italy. It is assumed that the city has Etruscan origins, but later on the region was part of the cisalpine Gaul and after the devastating invasion of the Cimbri, at the end of the 2nd century before Christ, the Romans began to prevail.

• WHTour: 1001 Wonders - Lalibela, the "Jerusalem" of the Ethiopian Church
  1001wonders.org (formerly world-heritage-tour.org) is listing 1001 cultural and natural sites around the world and is documenting them in panophotographies - immersive and interactive panoramic images. Today 272 sites have been visited : 254 are available on this web site, 18 are currently in post-production and will soon be uploaded. Altogether there are 2099 panophotographies. This project is building a museum atlas which is interactive, immersive, without border and for educational purposes. It is also a testimony and a documentary inventory of natural and cultural sites to future generations.

5 June

• Application deadline 14 June: Training Course on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage
  May 1, 2009 - Jun 14, 2009. Kyoto (Japan), Kathmandu (Nepal)
  The UNESCO Chair Programme on Cultural Heritage and Risk Management International Training Course on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage 2009 will be held in Kyoto, Japan and Kathmandu, Nepal. The course will take place from 31 August to 12 September, and is organized by the Research Center for Disaster Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage, Ritsumeikan University, Japan. In response to the Kathmandu Recommendations, adopted in the International Symposium on "Protecting World Cultural Heritage Sites and their Historic Urban Environment from Earthquakes" held in February 2009, this year's training course will focus on disaster risk management plans of cultural heritage in earthquake-prone historic urban areas.

• Publication of latest proceedings of the Meeting of Great Sites in Pont du Gard in 2008
  We are pleased to announce the publication of the latest proceedings from the Meeting of Great Sites in Pont du Gard in 2008: “Great Sites from the point of view of photography”

• Galápagos and Climate Change (Conservation International)
  The Galápagos Islands are already suffering the effects of climate change. Over a busy week in April, scientists and other experts from around the world united to assess the impacts of climate change on the islands’ ecosystems – land and sea, plants, animals and people – and to propose management steps. “If we want the unique biodiversity of the Galápagos to survive for future generations,” says Dr Emily Pidgeon, Director of CI’s Marine Climate Change Program, “we have to help it adapt to climate change.”

• Resources on World Heritage Education (WHE) that have been developed by UNESCO and partner organizations
  • WHE BROCHURES
    • UNESCO Young People's World Heritage Education Project
    • World Heritage, Today and Tomorrow, With Young People
  • WHE RELATE DOCUMENTS
    • Mobilizing Young People for World Heritage, World Heritage Paper Series n° 8 (Shared Legacy, Common Responsibility workshop report, Treviso, Italy, November 2002)
    • International Conference on World Heritage in Young Hands - A Dialogue among Civilizations (Aswan/Cairo, Egypt, February 2002)
  • LINKS
    • UNESCO Associated Schools website
    • UNESCO Bangkok website
  • Related
    • The World Heritage Conservation Process
  • Documents
    • Untitled document
    • Untitled document
    • Egypt Report 2002
    • WHC-212-416 Unesco Kit GB
    • younghands_en
  • Categories
    • Brochures & Info kits

     

• Applications currently accepted for new MA in World Heritage Resource Management

• Director-General visits four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in northern Portugal
  On 21 and 22 May 2009, the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, visited four World Heritage Sites in northern Portugal. He was accompanied throughout his trip by the President of the Portuguese National Commission to UNESCO, Ambassador Fernando Andresen Guimarães.

3 June

• Report on Economic activity of Australia's World Heritage areas
  Australia currently has 17 properties on its World Heritage (WH) List. As well as protecting the cultural and natural heritage for which they are listed, these sites can stimulate economic activity nationally and in the region, state or territory where they are located. This economic activity arises from expenditures associated with management of the sites as well as expenditure of visitors to the sites. The aim of this study was to:
  • analyse and report on the economic activity and contribution of 15 of Australia's World Heritage Areas (WHAs) to the regional, state/territory and national economies;
  • analyse and report on the historical perspective of the financial costs and benefits of the operation of each WHA; and
  • to the extent possible, separate and report on the financial costs of the World Heritage management component of each property (i.e. costs directly attributable to World Heritage status).

  The framework used to undertake this study was Regional Economic Impact Assessment (REIA). REIA is primarily concerned with the effect of an impacting agent e.g. an individual or a business, on an economy in terms of a number of specific economic activity indicators, such as gross regional output, value-added, income and employment. Based on visitation and management cost data provided by DEWHA and the state and territory agencies that manage the WHAs, input-output analysis was used to estimate the direct and indirect impacts of each WHA at the regional, state or territory and national level.

• New Masters programme in World Heritage studies!
  Bournemouth University, UK - MA in World Heritage Resource Management
  The MA in World Heritage Resource Management is currently recruiting to start in late September, this year. This is an exciting, innovative new programme - only one of five of its type in the world - that considers the issues of heritage in the cultural and natural fields, and particularly the management of World Heritage Sites and other protected areas such as national parks and national monuments. The programme would suit undergraduates who wish to pursue a career in cultural or natural site management, tourism management, heritage planning, heritage education and interpretation or wish to eventually undertake reseach for a PhD. This is a truly international course, closely guided by UNESCO's World Heritage Convention, and will involve site visits, robust discussion, interaction with heritage practitioners, and a 6 weeks placement with a professional agency.

Docomomo recently published the 40th edition of its journal dedicated to the latest research on Modern Movement structures and sites. This edition focuses on the city of Tel Aviv, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and includes a selection of educational facilities built between 1920 and 1980, compiled by Docomomo experts from around the world.

FILM : Les Galapagos, un monde à part (ARTE)
Série documentaire de Patrick Morris et Andrew Murray
Situées en plein milieu de l’océan Pacifique, à mille kilomètres du continent sud-américain, les îles Galápagos sont un laboratoire vivant, une scène en perpétuel mouvement qui a vu se produire la naissance et la disparition de nombreuses espèces animales et végétales. Ces îles qui ont inspiré à Darwin sa théorie de l’évolution ont joué un rôle décisif dans le regard que nous portons sur nous-mêmes et sur le développement de la vie sur terre.

Publication Documents Humpbacks in Galapagos
Quick, when you think of wildlife in the Galapagos Islands, what comes to mind? Thanks to Charles Darwin’s detailed studies, you may think of tortoises, blue-footed boobies or finches. But now, a new research publication, co-authored by Pacific Whale Foundation’s Ecuador Project Director Cristina Castro, PhD, presents evidence of another animal found year-round in the Galapagos Islands — the humpback whale. The publication was presented in late May at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission’s Scientific Committee. The other author on the paper is Godfrey Merlin. WildAid and Parque Nacional Galapagos also provided support. To download the paper, click here.