The World Heritage Committee has placed Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the proposed construction of Liverpool Waters, a massive redevelopment of the historic docklands north of the city centre. The Committee contended that the development will extend the city centre significantly and alter the skyline and profile of the site inscribed on the ...

Of the 33 sites nominated this year, which ones will make the cut to achieve UNESCO World Heritage status? The first day of the World Heritage Committee session began this morning, from the historic 18th century Tauride Palace (also known as “Tavrichesky” Palace) in St Petersburg, Russia. Delegations from the 21 States Parties will decide, by July 6, which sites will be added to ...

The challenges facing heritage preservation as UNESCO celebrates the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention were the focus of the opening of the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee. The session started Sunday in St Petersburg and will continue until 6 July. The Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee, Eleonora Valentinovna Mitrofanova, welcomed the participants ...

The Youth Model of the World Heritage Committee, to be held in Kazan from 1 to 9 July, is designed to attract the attention of young people of the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention to the problem of preservating natural and cultural heritage and to raise awareness  of youth activities related to the Convention, its role and its international importance as well as procedures ...

On 11 June, a protocol agreement for a preservation and management project for Historic Cairo (Egypt) was signed by Mr. Samir Gharib, Head of the National Organization for Urban Harmony (NOUH), and Dr. Tarek Shawky, Head of the UNESCO Cairo office, on behalf of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Attendees included H.E Mohammed Ibrahim, Minister of State for Antiquities, H.E Mohammed Saber ...

Participants to the 4th annual World Heritage Centre / Earthwatch / Shell "Business Planning for natural World Heritage site managers" year long training programme have just been informed of their successful candidacies.    In October 2012, 18 World Heritage site staff from 6 sites in Africa will travel to the Mpala Research Centre  in the shadow of Mount Kenya World ...

Since its inception in 2001, the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust (NFiT) at the World Heritage Centre has served the international heritage community as well as local communities in practically all regions of the world in pursuing the safeguarding and sustainable development of the World Heritage, both natural and cultural.  The agreement between the Dutch Government and UNESCO has enabled a ...

Following the earthquakes that struck the region of Emilia in northern Italy, notably since May 20, the UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova dispatched an urgent technical mission with the objective of assessing the overall situation at the affected World Heritage properties. The mission also aimed to evaluate the current risks related to the evolution of the seismic phenomenon ...

The Consultative Meeting on World Heritage and Sustainable Development, held in Ouro Preto, Brazil from 5 to 8 February, was a contribution to the celebration the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. In the first session, all speakers stressed the need to redefine the paradigm of this important topic in the face of growing inequalities and global challenges. This ...

In celebration of World Oceans Day, the World Heritage Centre is launching an iPhone app. This years’ Oceans Day theme “Youth: the Next Wave for Change” inspired the World Heritage Centre to go mobile. Of the 6,000 marine protected areas on the planet, only 45 are inscribed on the World Heritage List, the highest internationally recognized status for conservation. The ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its sincere condolences to the friends and family of Professor Philip Vallentine Tobias, who passed away on Thursday, 7 June 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Professor Tobias, born on 14 October 1925, was an exceptional paleoanthropologist and an inspiration to generations of students. He was internationally renowned for his commitment ...

As requested by Director-General Irina Bokova, a team of experts has traveled to northern Italy to assess damage to World Heritage sites following recent earthquakes. On 20 May 2012 a powerful earthquake hit the region of Emilia Romagna, in the north of Italy, followed by numerous aftershocks. This caused considerable damage to several important historic buildings. The three World Heritage ...

The World Heritage Committee will consider the inscription of 36 sites on the World Heritage List during its next meeting from 24 June to 6 July, in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation. The forthcoming 36 th session of the Committee , an independent body of 21 States Parties to the 1972 World Heritage Convention , will be chaired by. Eleonora Mitrofanova, Ambassador Permanent Delegate ...

The World Heritage Inventory of Earthen Architecture  is now available in English and French online: http://whc.unesco.org/en/earthen-architecture/ (see documents 2 and 3). In 2008, the World Heritage Programme on Earthen architecture (WHEAP) was launched as an initiative to address pressing concerns through the development of policies for the conservation, revitalisation and ...

The Government of Mali and UNESCO have defined measures to safeguard World Heritage Properties in the north of Mali, including the fabled city of Timbuktu, following reports of wilful damage to mausoleums in the World Heritage site. UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Africa, Lalla Aicha Ben Barka, travelled to Bamako (18 – 20 May) and met senior government officials ...

The Rivers and Heritage website was officially launched on 15 March 2012 at the World Water Forum in Marseille (France), during the session “Water Culture in local governance” organized by the AIMF in partnership with l'Académie de l'Eau and UNESCO in the framework of the France-UNESCO Convention. The site lies within the framework of the Rivers and Heritage, conducted ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today called for the protection of Libya’s Old City of Ghadamès inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1986. “I am deeply concerned by information that the Libyan city of Ghadamès has been the target of rocket attacks,” the Director-General said. “I call upon all those involved to refrain from ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today extended her condolences to the inhabitants of northern Italy for the loss of human life and suffering caused by the earthquake that shook the region on May 20. The Director-General also said that UNESCO is sending a mission to assess damage to World Heritage sites and other cultural heritage in northern Italy.  “While initial reports from ...

The conference Living with World Heritage, held in Røros, Norway from 13 to 16 May 2012, was part of Norway`s official contribution to the celebration of the World Heritage Convention`s 40th anniversary. Almost 140 persons from 28 countries participated. The themes of the conference were sustainable development and the role of local communities, with a primary ...

On 7 May 2012, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and H.E. Ms Katalin Bogyay, Ambassador of Hungary and President of UNESCO's General Conference, signed the new Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape adopted by the General conference on 10 November 2011. The Recommendation was adopted by acclamation, the first such instrument on the historic environment issued by UNESCO in 35 ...