Ensuring a Sustainable Future for World Heritage

The Issue
Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life, livelihoods, food security, cultural identity, recreation and inspiration. Places as unique and diverse as the East Africa’s Serengeti, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Baroque cathedrals of Latin America make up our world’s heritage.

What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional is its universal application. World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located and their conservation is a shared responsibility of all of humankind.

With this in mind, UNESCO’s (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) General Conference adopted the World Heritage Convention in 1972 seeking to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of natural and cultural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.

The Challenge
The current World Heritage List of 830 sites includes 644 cultural, 162 natural and 24 mixed properties in 138 States Parties. This list is by no means complete; nor are those sites which are currently listed or under consideration as well protected, managed and presented (especially with regard to natural heritage and cultural landscapes) as they could or should be. Among the many risks faced by both cultural and natural heritage sites include industrial pollution, ill-conceived or poorly planned economic development, increased traffic due to tourism, floods and other natural disasters, poor management and lack of awareness on the part of local communities.

Whereas this is an issue that is important to many places around the globe, the Mediterranean, in particular, offers unique opportunities to create solutions to some of the long-term issues of site preservation, conservation and management. With a particular focus on Mediterranean Europe, there exists a tremendous opportunity to combine the improved identification and management of natural heritage while concurrently building stronger ties and facilitating knowledge transfer between current and potential EU members.

The Project
Following the Periodic Reports on all European States Parties to the World Heritage Convention (Section I, December 2004) and the submission of the reports on the state of conservation of all European World Heritage sites by October 2005, the project envisages to:

• Assist in the identification of potential World Natural Heritage and cultural landscape properties in the Mediterranean, including mixed sites, cultural landscapes, geological and fossil sites, marine areas and unique ecosystems representing the region;
• enhance international cooperation to safeguard existing natural and mixed (cultural-natural) properties, such as Doñana National Park (Spain), Plitvice Lakes (Croatia), Durmitor National Park (Serbia and Montenegro), Skocjan Caves (Slovenia) and the Aeolian Islands (Italy), as well as unique systems which display the interaction between people and their environment including, Cilento National Park (Italy), Lake Ohrid (Macedonia), Kotor (Serbia and Montenegro), Sintra (Portugal) and Cinque Terre (Italy);
• increase the capacity building of site managers through focused management courses and international exchange programs, twinning and knowledge transfer-mechanisms;
• develop concepts for the long-term preservation of natural and cultural landscapes

Specific objectives for the Mediterranean cooperation between Southeastern Europe and Italy/Spain/Portugal:

• formation and implementation of a regional coordination in cultural and natural heritage with a specific focus on peace building through transnational cooperation on cultural and natural heritage including serial and trans-boundary areas;
• capacity building among identified cultural landscape, mixed and natural heritage site managers from Southeastern Europe;
• training on sustainable financing and long-term management of the unique cultural and natural resources in the region;
• formation on elaboration of long-term strategic plans for the conservation and monitoring of the properties (existing and potential).

The project will be implemented in three phases:
Phase I - International Seminar on World Natural and Cultural Heritage
In the first quarter of 2006, the partners will hold an international seminar on the topic of the outstanding natural and cultural landscape heritage in the region and the recommendations of the October conservation reports. Organized by the Bellagio Forum, in coordination with  UNESCO, the seminar will bring together managers of the current and potential heritage sites as well as leading regional and international experts to identify those sites which may have been overlooked for consideration as well as to determine the actions necessary to ensure the perpetual conservation of current and potential sites. To ensure the highest standards are met, experts from or selected by the Bellagio Forum and UNESCO will design and conduct the training seminars. The participants will be asked to provide input that will later be used to design the training workshops for the second phase.

Phase II - International Cooperation and Capacity-Building:
Following the recommendations from the outcome of step 1, foreseen are a series of capacity-building management courses in the areas determined to most benefit from them. Courses led by international experts, held at local sites, will target local teams and their staff and introduce established techniques to be modified according to local needs. Three courses are planned to train between 45-60 managers. The courses are planned to take place in Italy, Montenegro and Spain.

Phase III - On-going International Exchange, Communication of results / training model:
A thorough documentation and assessment of the results of each previous phase of the program will be made available both in electronic and published form. The publication, (initially in English, but which will be made available in as many languages as is financially feasible) will outline the model(s) established for the training courses with a focus on their duplicability. Provisions have been made to distribute a copy to each of the managers of sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list as well as additional, interested parties. Significant emphasis will be put on highlighting lessons-learned, innovative and sustainable methods for revenue generation, pitfalls, and methods for dealing with the different stakeholders (local community, government, business, and international organizations) encountered by the site managers.

A website linked to UNESCO/WHC, and maintained by the Bellagio Forum is established for all participants in the training courses and other aspects of the program. To visit the website, please click here.

The Partners
A coalition of partners including Fondazione per l’Arte, SiTI - Istituto Superiore sui Sistemi Territoriali per l’Innovazione the German Federal Foundation for the Environment and UNESCO have come together to address this challenge. The partners, who are providing both funding and expertise intend to address issues of importance in Southern Europe is such a manner that the results can be adapted and implemented in world heritage sites around the world.

Your Opportunity
The Bellagio Forum welcomes any additional partners who are interested in supporting this effort. The program requires significant regional and local expertise as well as wide-ranging support from individuals and organizations interested in ensuring that world heritage is preserved in perpetuity. The possibility exists to increase both the number and size of training workshops. Although the current project is focused on Southern Europe, there is no restriction on where additional workshop might be held.

Contact
If you are interested in learning more about the Forum, and how to get involved please contact: info@bellagio-forum.org