Limited distribution WHC-94/CONF.003/INF.10 Paris, 31 October 1994 original: English/French UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE Eighteenth session Phuket, Thailand 12-17 December, 1994 Report on the Expert Meeting on Heritage Canals (Canada, September 1994) *[2] WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION INFORMATION DOCUMENT ON HERITAGE CANALS EXPERTS MEETING, 15 - 19 SEPTEMBER 1994 CHAFFEYS LOCK, ONTARIO, CANADA PARTICIPANTS: Christina Cameron (Canada), Chairperson Mechtild Rossler (World Heritage Centre) Henry Cleere (ICOMOS) Stephen Hughes (TICCIH) Susan Buggey (Canada) Reinhold Castensson (Sweden) A.S. Chawla (India) Michel Cotte (France) Paul Labovitz (U.S.A.) Pan Lu (China) Nora Mitchell (U.S.A.) L. Prematilleke (Sri Lanka) Herb Stovel (Canada) Sitapha Traore (Mali) Henk Weevers (Netherlands) RESOURCE PERSONS: David Ballinger Gisèle Cantin Robert Hunter Dr. Robert Passfield Judith Sutherland PURPOSE OF MEETING Canada, following a World Heritage Committee decision in December 1992, hosted a meeting of experts on heritage canals in September 1994 to explore the nature and extent of canals, and to examine the components of significance. The results of the deliberations are herein presented to the World Heritage Committee for consideration. *[3] I DEFINITION A canal is a human-engineered waterway. It may be of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history or technology, either intrinsically or as an exceptional example representative of this category of cultural property. The canal may be a monumental work, the defining feature of a linear cultural landscape, or an integral component of a complex cultural landscape. II VALUES AND AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE The significance of canals can be examined under technological, economic, social, and landscape factors. A. TECHNOLOGY Canals can serve a variety of purposes: irrigation, navigation, defence, water-power, flood mitigation, land-drainage and water-supply. The following are areas of technology which may be of significance: 1. The line and waterproofing of the water channel 2. The engineering structures of the line with reference to comparative structural features in other areas of architecture and technology 3. The development of the sophistication of constructional methods 4. The transfer of technologies. B. ECONOMY Canals contribute to the economy in a variety of ways, e.g. in terms of economic development and the conveyance of goods and people. Canals were the first man-made routes for the effective carriage of bulk cargoes. Canals played and continue to play a key role in economic development through their use for irrigation. The following factors are important: 1. Nation building 2. Agricultural development 3. Industrial development 4. Generation of wealth 5. Development of engineering skills applied to other areas and industries *[4] 6. Tourism. C. SOCIAL FACTORS The building of canals had, and their operation continues to have, social consequences: 1. The redistribution of wealth with social and cultural results 2. The movement of people and the interaction of cultural groups. D. LANDSCAPE Such large-scale engineering works had and continue to have an impact on the natural landscape. Related industrial activity and changing settlement patterns cause visible changes to landscape forms and patterns. NOTE: There are potentially some additional areas of significance discussed in other sections of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention that deal with historic towns (paragraph 29) and with the natural criteria (in particular paragraph 44 a, points iii and possibly iv). III AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY A. Authenticity depends holistically upon values and the relationships between these values. B. One distinctive feature of the canal as a heritage element is its evolution over time. This is linked to how it was used during different periods and the associated technological changes the canal underwent. The extent of these changes may constitute a heritage element. C. The authenticity and historical interpretation of a canal encompass the connection between the real property (subject of the Convention), possible movable property (boats, temporary navigation items) and the associated structures (bridges, etc) and landscape. SEE APPENDIX IV MANAGEMENT A. The concepts of monumental work, corridor and cultural landscape are essential management considerations. B. Management mechanisms for canals require participation by many *[5] partners - public administrations, associations and individuals - and a co-ordinating body is therefore essential. This body must be given strong encouragement and the question of its governance must be examined at the national or international level. C. Management of a canal corridor involves renewing its components and the cultural landscapes comprising it. By nature, it is dynamic over a span of time (see III.B). D. Management must develop an information policy aimed at making the public and the partners aware of the authenticity and historical value of the heritage resource. Efforts to promote the canal must have an educational component aimed at fostering an understanding of the canal corridor. E. Any tourist development must tie in the aspects of authenticity with the history of the heritage resource, in a dynamic perspective unique to the canal. In this regard, the fragility of the sites must be made apparent and given attention by the public, as well as by the management partners. F. Management bodies should consider the possibility of reinvesting a portion of the tourism revenues in maintenance and conservation. CHANGES PROPOSED TO OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES 14 Delete sentence 1 since it contradicts sentence 2. Sentence 2 may be understood to supersede sentence 1 and to more accurately reflect the current public circumstances of nomination. 24(a) (i) reinforce current recommendation of Global Strategy Report for deletion from English version of "represent a unique artistic achievement" (ii) add "or technology" after "landscape design" (iii) no change (iv) add "or technological ..." ie "architectural or technological ensemble" (v) no change (vi) no change Proposed Addition after paragraph 40 A canal is a human-engineered waterway. It may be of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history or technology, *[6] either intrinsically or as an exceptional example representative of this category of cultural property. The canal may be a monumental work, the defining feature of a linear cultural landscape, or an integral component of a complex cultural landscape. APPENDIX It was felt important to seek methodological means to improve and clarify to the degree possible the application of the test of authenticity to canals and to their associated landscapes. In this endeavour, it was felt useful to expand the aspects of authenticity examined from the four currently noted in the Operational Guidelines, to associate these with criteria or indicators which could suggest how authenticity of canals might best be measured in relation to each of the aspects considered and to examine these within a time continuum including project planning, execution and ongoing use. It was felt important to stress that the resulting matrix was not meant to be used in a directive or mechanistic fashion, but to provide a guiding framework for consideration of a range of evidently interdependent factors, and ultimately to provide an integrated overview of these various factors. The proposed table is to take the criteria of 24b(i), expand on them, and suggest new criteria. For this purpose, we have provided an outline for approaching authenticity. One of the first distinguishing features is their evolution over time: design, then construction, then uses. We have chosen the format of key words and explanatory subcriteria. This outline is not exclusive; it is basically indicative and is intended to facilitate an exploration of the authenticity. It is a guide for examining possible questions. The result should not be an arithmetic sum of the positive responses in a table, but a harmonious whole representing a synthesis of elements of authenticity of a canal. *[7] PLAN EXECUTION USE 1. Intentions - Objectives - decipherable - documentation - intellectual context 2.Know-how - transmissions - technological context 3.Environment - physical surroundings - validity of canal - environment links - implications of know-how (2) - implications of materials (4) 4.Materials - conservation 5.Design - restoration - periods decipherable - influences - documentation 6. Uses and functions - continuity of uses - congruence - interruptions in uses and functions