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 November

• Ifugao Province, Philippines and Italy's Cinque Terre Park sign Twinning Program
  On 25 November 2009, the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines and Cinque Terre in Italy signed the Twinning Program of Exchange and Cooperation agreement at the Kiangan municipality in Ifugao. Governor Teodoro Baguilat Jr and Arch. Pasquale Bruno Malara, Director of the Regional Directorate of Liguria for Cultural Heritage and Landscape led the Twinning signing. Recognized as outstanding and evolving organic cultural landscapes, both sites agreed to promote and expand an effective and mutually beneficial cooperation for the sites' conservation and sustainable development. The Twinning Agreement will include activities on sustainable tourism, agricultural and agro-industrial technology transfer and exchange, climate change information exchange, education programs on indigenous knowledge systems, architectural and landscape conservation.
  More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/568

• Saving Darwin's mockingbird
  A very rare mockingbird could be reintroduced to the Galapagos Islands thanks to specimens collected by Charles Darwin, it is reported in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters today. A team of geneticists have extracted DNA from birds that Darwin collected while visiting the islands in 1835. Darwin noticed the Floreana mockingbird’s evident difference from the specimens he collected on other islands. Thus, the former holds a special claim on being a first vital clue for Darwin’s theory of speication under natural selection.
  More information: http://royalsociety.org/Saving-Darwin-mockingbird/

27 November

• Interview with Beemster Mayor, World Heritage City (The Netherlands)
  Harry N.G. Brinkman, born in 1950 in Purmerend, Netherlands, studied Electronics in the Netherlands, in the United States and in Belgium from 1968 to 1973; he then worked in Germany. In 1978, he began his studies in industrial engineering in Amsterdam. After graduation in 1982, he started his political career as assistant of the Christian Democratic Party of the city council of Purmerend. From 1986 to 1994, he was Alderman, and from 1994 to 2003, chairman of the Christian Democrats. During that period, he was also a member of several Water Boards in the Netherlands. At the beginning of 2003, he was selected Mayor by the council of Beemster and on April 7, he was appointed by the Queen. Reappointment followed 6 years later, on April 7, 2009. At the OWHC World Congress in Kazan in 2007, he was elected on the board of the OWHC and elected treasurer by the board. At the OWHC World Congress in Quito in 2009, he was elected president of the Organization. Furthermore, he is a member of the board of ICOMOS-NL and board member of the World Heritage Platform of the Netherlands.
  More information: http://www.ovpm.org/index.php?module=pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=1&pid=412

26 November

• Europa Nostra signs protocol with Istanbul 2010 ECoC Agency
  In 2010, Istanbul will be European Capital of Culture (ECoC), and from 8-13 June, Europa Nostra will hold its Annual Congress in the city. On 27 October 2009, a protocol of support for the project “Europa Nostra – Istanbu 2010” was signed by the Istanbul 2010 ECoC Agency Secretary General Mr.Yilmaz Kurt, EN Board Member and Coordinator for our Istanbul Annual Congress Orhan Silier, and Secretary General Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic.
  More information: http://www.europanostra.org/news/77/

• City of Prague builds ring-road Blanka Tunnel under its historic city walls
  Europa Nostra calls for protection of the historic city fabric.
  Europa Nostra helped local activists make sure that their concerns about work underway to construct the Blanka Tunnel complex, a ring-road highway under the historic walls of Prague, were put on the agenda of the World Heritage Committee meeting in Seville during the last week of June 2009. Europa Nostra Scientific Council member, Dr Tomás Durdík, lent his expertise to the Prague-based campaign. The WHC noted the threats to the ancient city walls and to the urban fabric of the historic city, and agreed to monitor this project, including the quality of the tunnel access and exit points close to the city walls, to ensure that the finely tuned street pattern is not damaged by the extra traffic which will be generated.
  More information: http://www.europanostra.org/news/70/

• World Heritage City Preservation Management - A project of collaboration between Flanders and the University of Cuenca
  By Prof. dr. Koenraad Van Balen, Director of RLICC
  The VLIR-UOS project on World Heritage City Preservation Management (WHCPM), collaboration between RLICC and the University of Cuenca, has started its third year in April 2009 and is at full speed. A large delegation of the team members of Cuenca, including the Rector of their University have participated in the seminar held on the occasion of the inauguration of the Unesco Chair (see page 5). They presented some of the ongoing research carried out in the project...
  More information: http://sprecomah.eu/rlicc/images/newsletter/rliccnewsjul09.pdf (Page 21)

• Forum UNESCO - University & Heritage International Conference 2009 in Hanoi, Vietnam
  By Prof. dr. Koenraad Van Balen, Director of RLICC
  The Forum Unesco University and Heritage in Hanoi (Vietnam) from 5 to 10 April 2009 dealt with the following questions: Is the ‘Historic Urban Landscape’ a new concept and can it be set off against the concept of World Heritage site? At the Forum the initiatives taken by PRECOMOS were presented in a paper and in subsequent discussions. The paper written by RLICC staff and researchers in collaboration with Monumentenwacht Vlaanderen was titled “Preventive conservation, monitoring and maintenance: strategies and tools for the bottom-up conservation of the physical integrity of historic urban landscape through empowerment”. In the discussion related to the topic of the Forum (Historic Urban Landscapes and more particularly heritage management of such sites) there was a great interest for better understanding the cost-benefit of a maintenance-based conservation approach, which the large number of populations in urban heritage sites can profit by.
  More information: http://universidadypatrimonio.net/SIFU/XII_Hanoi_2009/

• Preah Vihaer - Cambodia - An expert mission for UNESCO
  By Prof. dr. Koenraad Van Balen, Director of RLICC
  At the newly listed World Heritage Site “Temple of Preah Vihear” (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1224) in Cambodia an update was made of the management plan and of the urgent works needing to be carried out. An expert mission was organized by UNESCO allowing the involved experts to visit the emergency works carried out so far by the Cambodian authorities. Further urgent measures were proposed and discussed. On 2 June 2009 at the occasion of the yearly meeting of the International Technical Committee for Angkor in Siem Reap, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Nat ional Author i t ies of Cambodia for Preah Vihear and the Raymond Lemaire International Centerfor Conservation, K.U. Leuven, under the patronage of His Excellency Sok An, Vice Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the Ministers council. The different international and Cambodian experts of the International Technical Committee for Angkor were present.
  More information: http://sprecomah.eu/rlicc/images/newsletter/rliccnewsjul09.pdf

24 November

• Latest news from OUR PLACE World Heritage
  In this month's newsletter we are proud to introduce a new feature to our website. We have produced the first three of an ongoing series of short 60 second internet 'movies' which will showcase some of our wonderful images. The themes for these first three are, 'Places Of Worship', 'Places of Nature' and 'Places For People'. We will be regularly adding more themed movies, all collated from our extensive image library. We’d like to hear what you think of these items and we'd be happy to receive your suggestions for other subjects that we could compile from the OUR PLACE collection. You will also see that we have up-loaded five new picture galleries of sites recently added to our collection…
  More information: http://www.salemaker.co.nz/smaker/smmailview.asp?t=84159&b=20761

20 November

• Workshop on the Application of the Concept of Historic Urban Landscapes in the African Context. 30 November - 3 December 2009. Stone Town of Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania
  More than half of the Earth's population now lives in an urban area, and over the past three decades, due to the sharp increase in the world's urban population, historic cities have become subject to new threats. In order to address conservation and planning issues of historic cities, the Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscapes is being prepared for possible adoption at the 36th session of the General Conference of UNESCO in 2011.Within this framework, the overall objective of the foreseen workshop in Zanzibar is to consider the African context in the UNESCO Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscapes. This would be the first regional expert meeting on the subject in Africa.
  More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/events/613

• Exhibition "Galileo, Venice & the Moon" UNESCO Venice
  26 October - 27 November 2009. Palazzo Zorzi (Italiy)
  The exhibition "Galileo, Venice & the Moon" will be hosted from 26 October through 27 November 2009 at Palazzo Zorzi. The event is held within the frame of the Internal Year of Astronomy and organised with the collaboration of the Vatican Museums, the National Maritime Museum–London, the State Archive of Venice, the University Library of Padova, the San Servolo Service, the UNESCO Office in Venice and the Asiago Municipality.
  More information: http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=44539&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

• Caring for our iconic World Heritage places - The Hon Peter Garrett AM MP, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts (Australia)
  The Rudd Government will invest over $38 million in the conservation and preservation of Australia's unique World Heritage places through the Caring for our Country program. Announcing the funding today, Environment Minister Peter Garrett said World Heritage funding was a key element of the Government's Caring for our Country initiative. “Australia's World Heritage includes some of our most cherished and important places, and we are committed to safeguarding them for future generations,” Mr Garrett said. While our 17 World Heritage Places generate an estimated $12 billion and 120,000 jobs annually, they face significant threats, including from dangerous climate change. A recent report highlighted reduced rainfall, higher sea and land surface temperatures, more severe storm events, ocean acidification and rising sea levels as some of the potential threats.
  More information: http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/garrett/2009/mr20091116a.html

• Film on "Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, an Egyptian passion" - 26 November 2009
  This film narrates the memories of Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, through a long life of passions and combats. Her discovery of Egyptology, her commitment in the Resistance, her untiring combat to save the Temples of Nubia, which she won in 1960 thanks to the support of UNESCO, are some of the so many chapters told. It is her who also presented in France in 1967 the treasure of Tutankhamen in an exhibition that she designed, and her again who organized the rescue of the mummy of Ramses II threatened by its rotting process. Also in 1998, she fought for the Obelisk of the Place de la Concorde to seen again crowned with its gold-leafed pyramid cap. Fighter, pioneer and captivating narrator, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt still astonishes and seduces us.
  More information in French: http://www.france5.fr/et-vous/France-5-et-vous/Demandez-le-programme/LE-MAG/LE-MAG-N-50-2009/articles/p-4552-Empreintes-Christiane-Desroches-Noblecourt-une-pas.htm

• Environmental Challenges on Urban World Heritage - Proceedings of the OWHC-Regional Conference in Regensburg now published
  The international conference “Earth, Wind, Water, Fire - Environmental Challenges to Urban World Heritage” that took place in the German World Heritage town Regensburg from September 16 till18 was a great success. Experts from more than fifteen European countries came to the medieval city in Southern Germany to attend the Northwest-European Regional Conference of the “Organization of World Heritage Cities” (OWHC). After three days of inspiring presentations and discussions, the conference participants jointly adopted the “Regensburg Recommendation”. The paper formulates basic strategies on the protection of historic towns from environmental risks and natural hazards. The conference proceedings including the "Regensburg Recommendation" are now available online: http://www.regensburg.de/welterbe/download/owhc_broschuere_regensburg_2008.pdf

17 November

• Recall : Image Database of World Heritage Cities 2009
  Already several of our member cities have contributed to enrich our Image Bank. Thank you to the city of Berat (Albania), Bordeaux (France), Carcassonne (France), Cordoba (Spain), Cuenca (Ecuador), Krakow (Poland), Évora (Portugal), Luebeck (Germany), Nessebar (Bulgaria), Oviedo (Spain) Porto (Portugal), Sighisoara (Romania), Split (Croatia), Stralsund (Germany) and Ubeda (Spain), for the participation. With the purpose of enriching its image bank, the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) resorts to its network of members with the purpose of obtaining images of world heritage cities. These images show the peculiarities of the urban heritage of the chosen city, in detail or as a whole. The following webpage can give you an idea of the photographs already chosen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ovpm. The selected photographs will be hosted in the site FLICKR, administered by the OWHC. These photographs will be used in our website and other promotional publications like written documents or exhibitions. They will not be used with commercial purposes. The OWHC is committed to mention the name of the author in any image used. These images will have to be free of rights and sent in hi-res (min. 1600 x 1200 dpi). Would you like to participate? Send your photographs with a short description and the name of the author to the following address:images@ovpm.org
  More information: http://www.ovpm.org/

16 November

• Virtual Exhibition: "A Day in Pompeii"
  From 26 June to 25 October 2009. Melbourne Museum (Australia)
  The catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius on 24 August 79 AD produced a vast storm of pumice and volcanic ash that buried the town of Pompeii. Like a time capsule, the town – its businesses and homes, gardens and shops – was encased for almost 2,000 years. With more than 250 objects – many never shown before in Australia – A Day in Pompeii will immerse you in all aspects of life in the ancient town. Priceless objects of luxury and exquisite beauty sit aside everyday items like cooking pots and wine jars. The visual world of the town, with its marble sculpture, painted frescoes, ornaments and mosaics, is yours to explore.
  More information: http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/discoverycentre/pompeii/virtual-exhibition/

• 33rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. From 22 June to 30 June 2009 in Seville (Spain)
  27 listing proposals of new cultural and natural sites were examined, among which three French nomination files were included:
  • the extension project of the Salt Mine of Arc-et-Senans, listed since 1982, to the city of Salins-les-Bains, was inspired by the desire to reconstitute all the production chain of salt from the medieval facilities of Salins to the state-of-the-art architecture by Nicolas Ledoux in Arc-et-Senans.
  • “the architectural and urban work of Le Corbusier” is an innovating proposal since it associates twenty-two buildings or complexes in six countries: Germany, Argentina, Belgium, France, Japan and Switzerland. This cadidature is subject of intense debates, due to its novelty.

  More information in French: http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/lettre_d_info_no_31-_27-10_.pdf

13 November

• Business Skills training sessions begin for World Heritage sites
  The Business Skills for World Heritage Programme, a collaboration between international environmental charity Earthwatch, global energy company Shell and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, was kicked off with a training course held in Borneo from 19th to 29th October 2009. The programme seeks to improve the management effectiveness of World Heritage Sites using business planning techniques. Representatives from three natural World Heritage sites, all in South-east Asia, were each partnered with a Shell employee, with whom they attended the training at the Earthwatch research and learning centre in the jungles of Malaysian Borneo. The representatives were from Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia, Puerto Princesa Subterreanean River National Park in the Philippines and Kinabalu Park, Malaysia.
  More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/566/

12 November

• Kenya: Museums Alert Over Lamu Land Allocations
  AllAfrica.com reports that the The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) is compiling a list of people allocated land in a water catchment area in the Lamu world heritage site. Director general Omar Farah has said that Lamu Island is at risk of losing the only source of fresh water if allocations in the 982-hectare land at Shella are not nullified. “The sand dunes are the only membrane between sea water and fresh water and they should be conserved. Should any development be allowed at the dunes Lamu will not have fresh water in less than ten years,” he said. The NMK boss said National Heritage minister William Ole Ntimama is expected to make an announcement of the illegal allocations once the process of identifying the beneficiaries was completed. “We are currently conducting a search and the problem of illegal allocations at Shella is even more serious than the much publicized Mau forest because the entire 982 hectares has been dished out. After the allocations are nullified, we want Shella gazetted as a catchment area so that it can be protected,” he added.
  More information: http://www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/kenya_museums/

• Digitization of Arles Amphitheatre (France)
  The objective of the project consists in realizing a 3D model of the Amphitheatre of Arles from the photogrammetric documentation. The project allows three possible uses of the 3D model :
  • a version for the general public, as entertainment like the one AGP made on the antique theatre. This version could be used in the future interpretation area of the amphitheatre. It could also serve as a basis for the edition of a DVD book sold in the monuments and the MDAA.
  • a database gathering all studies carried on the monument. It is also especially important to keep the report of the works carried out.
  • a management tool for the monument (scientific and technical aspect) applicable to other monuments: maintenance, works, architecture extensions, modifications, calculation of load and dynamics. The filing of data, background of the works, and the analysis of the structures would allow a very effective management of the monument. Example: thanks to the plans and the 3D rendering, water networks could be identified.

  Potential partners:

  • The City of Arles
  • AGP
  • Laboratory LSIS
  • The laboratory of the School of Mines of Alès
  • LERM
  • An Architect/Archeologist

  Project in stand-by for the time-being, waiting for the decision of some of the potential partners.
  More information in French: http://www.industries-culturelles-patrimoines.fr/pole-icp/projets-rad/visualisation-3d-du-theatre-antique-darles.html

• The first comprehensive restoration of the Hall of Mirrors, Castle of Versailles (France)
  VINCI, world leader in contracting, construction and associated services, is the sponsor of the first complete restoration of the Hall of Mirrors of the Castle of Versailles. It is the largest operation of cultural sponsorship ever carried out in France. It is a sponsorship of competences: VINCI provides its expertise as a constructor and the technical know-how of its companies specialized in the restoration of historical monuments.
  More information in French: http://www.vinci.com/mecenat/

• VINCI built the reception hall of the Castle of Versailles in three months
  “The contractual scheme that we designed for the Gallery of Mirrors was a prototype, but the construction of this hall demonstrates that it is totally repeatable”, declared Xavier Huillard, Director-General of VINCI, during the signature of the agreement of sponsorship between VINCI and the public Establishment of Versailles, on 1 April 2008. The challenge today has been achieved, with the opening of the hall on 1 July . After obtaining a temporary authorization, VINCI ensured the management and monitoring of works, mainly carried out by companies of the Group, for a financial commitment of around two million Euros. The hall, located in the Court of Honour of the Castle, and built for a period of time of three years (the time needed for the final rearrangement of the reception spaces), is equipped with all the necessary technical facilities for an establishment that receives the public but it is also an original and ambitious architectural project.
  More information in French: http://www.vinci.com/vinci.nsf/fr/actus-chantiers.htm

• Opening of the Vauban Docks
  In Le Havre (Seine-Maritime), the Vauban Docks were inaugurated on 14 October, before opening to the public on the following day. Built in 1846, they were the main storage of coffee in Europe for decades; these emblematic works of the 19th century industrial architecture are now a prestigious business and leisure centre. Carried out by VINCI Immobilier and ING Real Estate on behalf of Unibail-Rodamco, the reconversion operation, with a total cost of 125 million euros, was designed by Reichen and Robert architects and carried out by VINCI Construction France, with Eurovia and VINCI Energies. The project included the rehabilitation and extension of thirteen monumental buildings (60 m long, 25 m wide, 12 m high) with brick and wood structures, supporting wooden or metallic carpentry, and connected by corridors and passages covered with glass, organized according to a regular design.
  More information in French: http://www.vinci.com/vinci.nsf/fr/actus-chantiers.htm

10 November

• Mali local MPs in the Val de Loire
  Macki Cissé, President of the Mopti Regional Assembly, and Abdoulaye Garba Maïga, 1st Vice-President, came to the Val de Loire in October and met with various partners in the context of the devolved cooperation agreement between the Mopti Regional Assembly and the Centre region. They were particularly welcomed to the Val de Loire Mission with Pascal Meyer, International Cooperation Director at the Centre Regional Council, and the two Volunteers of the Centre Region within the Mopti Regional Assembly.
  More information: http://www.valdeloire.org/front.aspx?SectionId=51&publiid=5914

• New Loire mission in Burundi
  Under the protection programme of the North-East of Lake Tanganyika, which is an environmental initiative of the partnership between the Pays de la Loire region and Burundi, a group of Loire university students specialising in ecotourism, hydro systems and biodiversity went on a mission from 28th September to 3rd October 2009. The purpose of this mission was to assess the prefiguration activities carried out on the protection of catchment areas and the North-East of Lake Tanganyika. A great many field trips along the Ntahangwa, Muha and Mugere rivers gave the delegation the chance to notice the threats to the water network and food for thought with the partners on the risks of developing infrastructure that was likely to change the course of the Ntahangwa river.
  More information: http://www.valdeloire.org/front.aspx?SectionId=51&publiid=5913

• 7th Meeting of the French World Heritage Property Association
  This meeting, hosted by the French World Heritage Property Association, was held in Reims on 1st and 2nd October 2009, at the invitation of Mrs Adeline Hazan, Mayor of Reims and President of Reims Métropole and Mr Yves Dauge, Senator of Indre-et-Loire and Association Chairman. The first brainstorming day focused on the theme “property management and regional project”. The general assembly, which met on 2nd October, approved the 2009 accounts and policy report of the Association before confirming the recruitment of a permanent part-time position to run and coordinate the Association’s actions (this role should be taken up in early 2010).
  More information: http://www.valdeloire.org/front.aspx?SectionId=51&CHANGELANG=en&publiid=5912

• Review on the draft management plan for the listed site
  To meet UNESCO’s expectations, the Prefect of the Centre Region suggested drawing up a management plan at the Regional Conference in July 2008. The main outlines of an initial version of the draft management plan, drawn up by regional state departments (Centre & Pays de Loire Diren, Centre DRAC, SDAP of the four counties concerned) with help from the Val de Loire Mission, were presented at the Regional Conference.
  More information: http://www.valdeloire.org/front.aspx?SectionId=25&publiid=5852

6 November

• General Assembly elects 12 new members to World Heritage Committee and sets priorities for future of Heritage Convention
  The General Assembly of States Parties to the 1972 World Heritage Convention replaced more than half the 21 members of the World Heritage Committee during its biannual session, which took place at UNESCO Headquarters from 23 to 28 October. The Committee is responsible for the implementation of the Convention. The General Assembly also focused on the priorities to be set in implementing the Convention as it approaches its 40th anniversary. The new members elected to the World Heritage Committee are: Cambodia, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Iraq, Mali, Mexico, Russian Federation, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand and United Arab Emirates. Each country will serve a mandate of four years.
  More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/563/

http://www.unesco.or.id/publication/leaflet_WH_UNESCO.pdf

This flyer, specially designed for school children presents UNESCO World Heritage sites in Indonesia.

Download World Heritage Puzzle here: http://www.unesco.or.id/publication/puzzleWH.pdf

'Patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO : les sites marocains' is published
The book 'Patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO : les sites marocains' ('UNESCO World Heritage: the Moroccan sites') is a voyage to an exceptional part of Moroccan heritage. Ancient traces, fairytale wanderings, exquisite landscapes: writer-photographer Jean-Jacques Gelbart has captured Morocco's most incredible sites through the lens of his camera. Eight writers have added prose to his images to introduce the sites, including the particular attachments connecting them to each place.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/565/