Interview
Jukka Jokilehto
World Heritage Convention
Jukka Jokilehto is a Finnish architect and urban planner. A graduate of Helsinki Polytechnic University in 1966, he joined ICCROM in 1972 as professor and coordinator of the programme in architectural and urban conservation.
After specialist studies at the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, he earned a Ph.D. from the University of York in the United Kingdom in 1986. Deputy Director-General of ICCROM from 1995 until his retirement in 1998, he worked then for ICOMOS from 2000 to 2006 as an evaluator and presenter of World Heritage nominations. In recent years he has been involved in the development of conservation plans and management plans, such as the one in Bam, Iran, and has advised many countries (China, Japan, Italy, Ireland, Norway, etc.) in their preparation of World Heritage nominations. He is also an honorary professor at the University of York and special advisor to the Director-General of ICCROM.
Jukka Jokilehto's involvement in World Heritage dates back to the 1980s. From 1988 to 1997, he attended all the meetings of the World Heritage Committee as an ICCROM representative, and from 2000 to 2006 as an evaluator for ICOMOS. As an expert on authenticity, the notion of outstanding universal value and the management of cultural sites, he participated in numerous expert meetings on World Heritage, including the Nara meeting in 1994. Recipient of the ICCROM Award in 2000, he published Management Guidelines for World Cultural Heritage Sites (ICCROM, 1993) with Bernard Feilden, A History of Architectural Conservation (Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999) and ICCROM and the Conservation of Cultural Heritage: A History of the Organization’s first 50 Years, 1959-2009 (ICCROM, 2011). Nicholas Stanley-Price and Joseph King edited a volume on Conserving the Authentic: Essays in honour of Jukka Jokilehto (ICCROM, 2009) .
Interview with
Jukka Jokilehto
5 May 2010, Rome, Italy
The following audio excerpts are from an interview with Jukka Jokilehto by Christina Cameron and Mechtild Rössler the 5 May 2010 in Rome, Italy. They reveal his expertise and deep understanding of World Heritage issues particularly in his comments on the representativeness of the World Heritage List, the work of the Advisory Bodies, the notion of authenticity and the management of cultural and urban landscapes.
- 1. The World Heritage Convention
- 1a. Involvement and participation of Jukka Jokilehto in the world heritage
- 1b. Key objectives of the Convention
- 1c. World Heritage List: length and representativity
- 1d. Milestones in the implementation of the Convention
- 1e. Failures and successes of the Convention
- 2. World Heritage Committee
- 3. Advisory bodies: IUCN, ICOMOS and ICCROM
- 4. The notion of authenticity
- 5. Delimitation and management of cultural landscapes and historic urban landscapes
Oral Archives of the
World Heritage Convention
Under the leadership of the Canada Research Chair on Built Heritage at the University of Montreal, an international team of researchers conducts interviews with pioneers of World Heritage to capture memories of important moments in the history of UNESCO Convention.
Launched in 2006, this initiative is part of the UNESCO History project that celebrated the 60th anniversary of the creation of UNESCO. The Oral Archives project records the precious witness of people closely associated with the creation and implementation of the Convention. Their recollections and views have greatly enriched the book by Christina Cameron and Mechtild Rössler, Many Voices, One Vision: The Early Years of the World Heritage Convention (Ashgate/Routledge, 2013).
