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It was the opinion of several members that the Committee should issue a statement on the whole philosophy underlying the Convention and, in particular, the need for a World Heritage List. Others felt that the discussion on the criteria for inclusion of properties in the List would necessarily raise the philosophical concepts involved.
Several members felt strongly that the World Heritage List should be exclusive and that, because of its impact, the List - in which balance would be sought geographically and between cultural and natural properties - should be drawn up with extreme care. Responsibility for ensuring the exclusive character of the List would rest first of all, with the States nominating properties and secondly, with the Committee which would have the right to reject nominations; the adoption of criteria which would be used by the Committee to filter nominations therefore constituted a very important first ...
The feasibility of adopting criteria gave rise to some discussion, with member's referring to the difficulty already experienced in establishing criteria at the national level, to the changing and subjective nature of evaluations of qualities, to the impact of Western thought and to the difference between perception from within a given culture and perception from outside. The representative of ICOMOS, in reply, recognized the difficulty of drafting criteria to be applied to cultural property throughout the world and of translating concepts into words that were meaningful on a universal ...
Hope was expressed that sufficient information would be provided to States to enable them to select properties that were truly eligible for inclusion in the List and that the criteria adopted would assist States in restricting their choice of properties nominated. In this connection, one proposal put forward sought to impose on States a limit in the number of properties that they might submit in the first instance but, on reflection this was not considered advisable. It was, however, decided that States would be advised to limit the number of nominations submitted at a given time, on the ...
4 COM VII.21
Consideration of item 8 of the agenda: Measures to be taken to improve the balance between the cultural and the natural heritage in the implementation of the Convention
21. The Committee heard the report of the working group set up to examine measures to improve the balance between the cultural and the natural heritage in the implementation of the Convention and agreed with the recommendations set out below:
1) Preparatory assistance to States Parties should be granted on a priority basis for:
(i) the establishment of tentative lists of cultural and natural properties situated in their territories and suitable for inclusion in the World Heritage List;
(ii) the preparation of nominations of types of properties underrepresented in the World Heritage ...
14. Introducing agenda item 6, the Secretariat recalled the Bureau's proposals as contained in the report of the ninth session. It was pointed out that, in addition to the question of the growing number of nominations, the real problem raised by development of the Convention was that of monitoring the status of conservation of properties included on the List.
15. In regard to the Bureau's proposed measures to reduce the number of nominations to be processed each year, the Committee was of the view that it was preferable not to lay down strict rules but rather to appeal to States that ...
31. Given the high number of nominations and the problems that this situation might cause for their evaluation and the smooth running of the work of the Committee, the Bureau had wished that the Committee examine whether it was suitable - and in which manner - to eventually envisage a limitation to the number of nominations in the future. The Committee also expressed its concern that the examination of nominations had taken up most of the time available at the expense of the other items on the agenda, particularly financial matters.
32. Several members of the Committee considered that it ...
42. The representative of Algeria noted that the present composition of the World Heritage Committee was somewhat imbalanced in terms of geographical representation, with a particular lack of representation of African States Parties. This meant that there was a resulting imbalance in the representation of cultural regions. The Algerian representative suggested that the Bureau and the Committee should re-examine the voting procedure for the General Assembly of States Parties.
43. The Committee agreed that there was a need to ensure an equitable representation of the different regions and ...
12. The Chairman of the Working Group, H.E. Ananda Guruge (Sri Lanka) presented the recommendations drafted by the Working Group. He stressed how important it was that the work of the Committee be facilitated through careful preparation and submittance of nominations of cultural properties by States Members, a more active Secretariat contribution when checking files, and a selective presentation of proposals by ICOMOS and by the Bureau. He also noted the progress that could be achieved through a reorganization of the Committee's agenda. The Chairman of the Working Group clarified that ...
12 COM XVI.73
Other Business: Concerns About the Situation of Architectural Heritage, Both Urban and Rural, in Romania
73. The Secretary-General of ICOMOS read out a telex message from Professor Roberto di Stefano, President of ICOMOS, expressing the grave concern of his Organization about "the situation of architectural heritage, both urban and rural, in Romania". After describing the measures taken by ICOMOS, the message stated that this organization was ready to help the Committee in any way possible. The Committee noted that Romania was not a State Party to the Convention and that when the matter had been raised in the recent 130th session of Unesco's Executive Board, the Director-General had informed ...
11. While examining agenda item 4, the Committee took note of the conclusions of the 7th General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention on this question. The Committee welcomed the content of the resolution adopted by the General Assembly which reflected its wish to ensure both a better turnover of Committee members and equitable representation of the different regions and cultures of the world.
12. In accordance with the conclusions of the Bureau at its 13th session and taking account of the above-mentioned resolution, the Committee decided to allocate under the 1990 budget a sum ...
40. The Committee welcomed the proposals of ICOMOS and the Secretariat concerning the global study. In presenting his proposal, the representative of ICOMOS emphasized in particular the need to highlight the changes which had occurred in the world and in approaches to culture in the last twenty years. New tendencies were appearing, especially as concerns the relationships of man to his environment, and new themes were emerging such as anthropised landscapes or vernacular architecture. It was noted that the proposals made by the Secretariat should also be taken into account in elaborating ...