In 1992, the World Heritage Committee changed the Operational Guidelines for the inscription of cultural landscapes on the World Heritage List. It was defined as the “combined works of nature and man” as set out in Article I of the 1972 World Heritage Convention.
Within the framework of the Global Strategy, studies and conferences were held on the theme of cultural landscapes in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Andes, and in Europe (West and East). In 1999, a workshop was organized on the management of cultural landscapes in Slovakia. Experts recommended preparing a guide for the management of cultural landscapes to assist site managers, which cover a wide variety of interactive events between man and his natural environment.
In 2000, supported by the France-UNESCO Cooperation Agreement, UNESCO funded the participation of five experts and took part at the workshop to prepare the guide. Eight experts participated in the final meeting, which took place in Cinque Terre, Italy, from 18 to 20 March 2001. (The property Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto) is inscribed on the World Heritage List since 1997).
