Communities
‘Communities’ should be understood in the meaning of Article 5 (a) of the World Heritage Convention, which asks each State Party to the Convention "to adopt a general policy which aims to give the cultural and natural heritage a function in the life of the community and to integrate the protection of that heritage into comprehensive planning programmes".
One of the central objectives of the World Heritage Convention is to encourage the participation of the local population in the preservation of their cultural and natural heritage, as outlined in the five Strategic Objectives of the World Heritage Convention, also referred to as the ‘5 Cs’: Credibility, Conservation, Capacity building, Communication and Communities.
According to the Committee working document WHC-07/31.COM/13B, “[communities] involves all forms of non-State actors. That is, from the smallest groups of citizens, in whichever form they manifest themselves. They may range from groupings of peoples as indigenous, traditional and/or local peoples. They may be presented as, inter alia, community groups, tribes, nongovernmental organizations, private enterprise and/or local authorities. The defining characteristic of communities, in this setting, is what they possess. They all possess a direct connection, with relevant interests, to individual sites and often they have a connection that has endured over time. Typically, these communities share a close proximity with the sites in question. These peoples and/or entities are not necessarily directly representing official state positions, and may actually be in dissent from official positions.”
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