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 the outline for the global study. The Committee approved the draft study as presented and asked the Secretariat to coordinate the work in close collaboration with ICOMOS and ICCROM. The results of the first phase consisting of the elaboration of a thematic framework should be presented to the Bureau at its 14th session for advice on follow up measures.
41. The question of thematic studies was again raised, several delegates having pointed out the interdependence of these studies and the global study. The work undertaken through these two initiatives could be mutually reinforcing and could lead to the presentation of an overall policy for implementing the World Heritage Convention at the special session of the Committee which will commemorate the twentieth anniversary of its adoption. In particular, a study on mixed sites and rural landscapes should be undertaken as a priority, according to several delegates (Canada, France, Greece, Italy and Mexico) who offered to participate in a working group that might be created for this purpose. In this respect, the representative of Italy stressed that in countries of the Old World, natural properties have always been strongly modified by man and that it was necessary to take this human presence into account when considering the integrity of these properties.
42. The Committee took note with satisfaction of a delegate's offer to place an expert from the archeological service of his country at the disposal of the Secretariat to help the work of the global study.
43. The Committee took note of document SC-89/CONF.004/INF.4 describing the progress made in drawing up a global indicative list of geological and fossil sites which have the potential to meet natural World Heritage criteria (i) and (ii). The Committee was glad to learn that the Secretariat had contacted Unesco's International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP) and the International Union for the Geological Sciences (IUGS) and had engaged a high level consultant who had drawn up a preliminary indicative list. This preliminary list was being circulated to more than 150 experts in the field of geology around the world and would be finalized by the IGCP and IUGS in co-operation with IUCN in February 1990. The Committee welcomed the co-operation of the geological scientists' community in this endeavour and noted that the global indicative list would be presented to the Bureau at its 14th session.