World Heritage Conservation

The UNESCO World Heritage Convention has become one of the most successful UN instruments for promoting cultural diplomacy and dialogue on conservation of cultural and natural heritage. This book provides an overview of the convention through an interdisciplinary approach to conservation. It shows that based on the notion of outstanding universal value and international cooperation for the protection of heritage, the convention provides a platform for sustainable development through the conservation and management of heritage of significance to humanity. With increasing globalization of heritage, World Heritage Conservation is reviewed as an emerging interdisciplinary field of study creating new opportunities for inclusive heritage debate both locally and globally, requiring common tools and understanding. With over a thousand properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, from biologically diverse sites such as the Central Amazon Conservation Complex to the urban landscape of the metropolis of Rio de Janeiro, the book will help students, researchers and professionals in the identification, protection, conservation and presentation of World Heritage. Targeted at a diversity of disciplines, the book critically describes the strategies for implementing the convention and the processes of heritage governance for sustainable development.

In Kenya, cultural and natural heritage has a particular value. Its pre-historic heritage not only tells the story of man's origin and evolution but has also contributed to the understanding of the earth's history: fossils and artefacts spanning over 27 million years have been discovered and conserved by the National Museums of Kenya (NMK). Alongside this, the steady rise in the market value of African art has also affected Kenya. Demand for African tribal art has surpassed that for antiquities of Roman, Byzantine, and Egyptian origin, and in African countries currently experiencing conflicts, this activity invariably attracts looters, traffickers and criminal networks. This book brings together essays by heritage experts from different backgrounds, including conservation, heritage management, museum studies, archaeology, environment and social sciences, architecture and landscape, geography, philosophy and economics to explore three key themes: the underlying ethics, practices and legal issues of heritage conservation; the exploration of architectural and urban heritage of Nairobi; and the natural heritage, landscapes and sacred sites in relation to local Kenyan communities and tourism. It thus provides an overview of conservation practices in Kenya from 2000 to 2015 and highlights the role of natural and cultural heritage as a key factor of social-economic development, and as a potential instrument for conflict resolution

The act of identifying, protecting, restoring, and reusing buildings, districts, and built landscapes of historic and cultural significance is, at its best, a reflective and consequential process of urban and socio-economic reform. It has the potential to reconcile conflicting memories, meanings, and cultural tensions, bridging and expanding the perceived boundaries of multiple disciplines towards bigger aspirations of city-making and social justice. How and where do such aspirations overlap and differ across nations and societies across the world? In places with different histories, governance structures, regulatory stringency, and populist dispositions, who are the specific players, and what are the actual processes that bring about bigger and deeper change beyond just the conservation of an architectural or urban entity of perceived value? This collection of scholarly articles by theorists, academics, and practitioners explores the global complexity, guises, and potential of heritage conservation. Going from Tokyo to Cairo, Shenzhen to Rome, and Delhi to Moscow, this volume examines a vast range of topics – indigenous habitats, urban cores, vernacular infrastructure, colonial towns, squatters, burial sites, war zones, and modern landmarks. It surfaces numerous inherent issues – water stress, deforestation, social oppression, poverty, religion, immigration, and polity, expanding the definitions of heritage conservation as both a professional discipline and socio-cultural catalyst. This book argues that the intellectual and praxis limits of heritage conservation – as the agency of reading, defining, and intervening with built heritage – can be expansive, aimed at bigger positive change beyond a specific subject or object; plural, enmeshed with multiple fields and specializations; and empathetic, born from the actual socio-political realities of a place.

"The eighth edition fully updates the book to add 42 new sites. World Heritage sites are judged under strict criteria with a view to the aim that they reflect the world's cultural and natural diversity and are of outstanding universal value. World Heritage Sites attracts a general readership as well as travellers and those with an interest in natural or human history, the Earth sciences, geography, conservation of the environment, wildlife and habitats; and planning and preservation."--

Published on the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, this thematic collection of case studies provides a thorough understanding of World Heritage sites and their Outstanding Universal Value in the context of sustainable development. The case studies describe twenty-six thematically, typologically and regionally diverse World Heritage sites illustrating their benefits to local communities and ecosystems and sharing the lessons learned with the diverse range of stakeholders involved. The volume emphasises a holistic and integrated view of World Heritage, linking it to the role local communities play in management and protection, and to issues of ecosystem sustainability, and the maintenance of biological, linguistic and cultural diversity. Cross-disciplinary in its scope, this book will provide a meeting point for researchers, practitioners, community representatives and the wider public and will promote cultural and natural heritage conservation as a key vector of sustainable development and social cohesion.

In 2015, the General Assembly of State Parties to the World Heritage Convention passed a ground-breaking Sustainable Development policy that seeks to bring the World Heritage system into line with the UN’s sustainable development agenda (UNESCO 2015). World Heritage and Sustainable Development provides a broad overview of the process that brought about the new policy and the implications of its enactment. The book is divided into four parts. Part I puts the policy in its historical and theoretical context, and Part II offers an analysis of the four policy dimensions on which the policy is based – environmental sustainability, inclusive social development, inclusive economic development and the fostering of peace and security. Part III presents perspectives from IUCN, ICOMOS and ICCROM – the three Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee, and Part IV offers ‘case study’ perspectives on the practical implications of the policy. Contributions come from a wide range of experienced heritage professionals and practitioners who offer both ‘inside’ perspectives on the evolution of the policy and ‘outside’ perspectives on its implications. Combined, they present and analyse the main ideas, debates and implications of the policy change. This book is key reading for all heritage professionals interested in developing a better understanding of the new Sustainable Development policy. It is also essential reading for scholars and students working in the area.

This book focuses on current trends in cultural heritage conservation and their influence on heritage practice. Seen through the lenses of World Heritage, historic urban landscapes, heritage tourism, climate change or the nature/culture nexus, these challenges call for innovative approaches to protect and conserve our heritage places. The book brings together the voices of different stakeholders in the heritage conservation process, ranging from scholars, site managers and government officials to young professionals and students.

Foreword to the International Conference - Greetings and Auspices Paolo Del Bianco, President of the Fondazione Romualdo Del Bianco - Giovanni Puglisi, President of the UNESCO Italian National Commission - Claudio Martini, President of the Region of Tuscany - Eugenio Giani, Deputy Mayor of the Town of Florence - Joe King, Sites Unit Director ICCROM, on behalf of the Director-General of ICCROM, Mr. Mounir Bouchenaki - Michael Petzet, President of ICOMOS - Marco Dezzi Bardeschi, President of ICOMOS Italy Introduction on the Topic of the Conference Andrzej Tomaszewski, President of ICOMOS Committee of Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration SESSION 1 - Values of Heritage and Great Religious-Cultural Areas José Manuel del Río Carrasco, Values of Heritage in the Religious and Cultural Tradition of Christianity: the Concept of Authenticity (paper presented on the behalf of Mons. Carlo Chenis) - Mehr Azar Soheil, Heritage Values in Religious and Cultural Traditions of Islam - Gamini Wijesuriya, Values of the Heritage in the Religious and Cultural Traditions of Southern Asia - Andrew Sneddon, Heritage and the Law: Assessing and Managing Heritage Values in Australia and the Pacific - Meredith Walker, Spirituality, Land Tenure and the Recognition of Heritage Values in Australia SESSION 2 - Evolution of Values and Criteria Marc Laenen, Reflections on Heritage Values - Javier Gallego Roca, Time, Memory and Restoration: the Alhambra Paradigm - Giuseppe Basile, Validity/Actuality of Aesthetical Values - Yumi Isabelle Akieda, What Has Been Valued in Japanese Architectural Heritage? From Monuments to Machinami - Hans Christie Bjness, Changing Territorial Values in Urban Conservation. From Patan, Nepal, to Gyantse, Tibet Autonomous Region - Josef S?tulc, The Birth of the Idea of Protection of Historic Quarters in the 19th Century. Prague and its Impact on Present-Day Conservation Policy in the Czech Republic SESSION 3 - Systems of Classification of Cultural Property Boguslaw Szmygin, Classification of Historical Monuments - Guo Zhan, Criteria of Classification on Values and Criteria in Cultural Heritage Conservation. Series of China - Gustavo Araoz, Heritage Classifications and the Need to Adjust Them to Emerging Paradigms: the United States Experience - Jukka Jokilehto, Aesthetics in the World Heritage Context SESSION 4 - Authenticity: Outstanding Italian Philosophy Marco Dezzi Bardeschi, The Discriminating Value of the Authenticity in the Debate on the Restoration. Before and after Nara - Giuseppe Cruciani Fabozzi, The Need for Authenticity in the Tradition of the Florentine School of Restoration - Maria Piera Sette, Discussion of Authenticity, a Brief Note - Stella Casiello, Autenthicity and Restoration: the Role of the Scuola Napoletana - Giorgio Macchi, Authenticity of Structural Conception SESSION 5 - Values in Restoration Andrzej Tomaszewski, Conservation between Aesthetics and Authenticity - Simonetta Valtieri, Cultural Heritage Value and its Social Appreciation - Calogero Bellanca, The Values of Cultural Heritage in the Terminology of Restoration - Nicholas Stanley-Price, The Value of Reconstructed Archaeological Sites - Dorothy Bell, The Value of Ruins: Present Definitions and Methods of Perception - Gennaro Tampone, Semiological Values of Consolidation Works in Monumental Buildings - Petr Kroupa, The Idea of Heritage Values: Czech Experience SESSION 6 - Outstanding Universal Values (OUV) Aesthetics Wilfried Lipp, Aesthetic Values in the Context of Monuments and Sites - Michael Petzet, What is Outstanding Universal Value? - Tamás Fejérdy, Evolution and Possible Enhancement of the Concept of OUV - Michal Firestone, Aesthetic Values of Historic Cities - Susan Denyer, Aesthetic Value of Cultural Landscapes SESSION 7 - Dilemma of Values of Post-Totalitarian Heritage Enzo Bentivoglio, An Inheritance from the Thirties in Italy: the Example of the University Campus of Rome - Irmela Spelsberg, Between Historical Commemoration and Political Decontamination: Some Examples of the Architecture from the 30s in Berlin - Jacek Purchla, Dilemma of Post-Totalitarian Heritage (Polish Experiences) - Gulchorha Mammadova, A Dilemma of Historical Heritage under New Political Conditions: the Case of Azerbaijan SESSION 8 - World Heritage Evaluation Criteria Giovanni Boccardi, Perspectives on World Heritage Criteria - Mounir Bouchenaki, A New Approach to the Concept of Cultural Property - Michael Turner, Values of Heritage in Great Religious and Cultural Areas. From Existentialism to Historicism A View of the Holy Land and the Sites of Jesus and the Apostles - Rosa Anna Genovese, Cultural Property and Values in the Universal Context - Natalia Dushkina, World Heritage List: Evaluating the 20th Century Heritage - Tatiana Kirova, Criteria and Best Practices in the Management of WHL in Italy - Carlo Francini, The World Heritage Criteria for the Historic Centre of Florence.