The World Heritage Capacity-Building Strategy (WHCBS) was approved by the World Heritage Committee at its 35th session (Paris, 2011) (Decision 35 COM 9B). The Strategy was developed by ICCROM and IUCN in collaboration with ICOMOS, the World Heritage Centre, and other The Capacity Building Strategy is organized according to the “5Cs” that represent the established strategic directions of the World Heritage Convention. The strategy has 9 main goals with principal actions that are recommended in relation to each, and the main audience in terms of practitioners, institutions and communities.
Source(s): https://whc.unesco.org/archive/2012/whc12-36com-9B-en.pdf
World Heritage Centre is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Convention and for the administration of the World Heritage Fund.
The World Heritage Centre UNESCO World Heritage Centre is responsible for the day-to-day management of the World Heritage Convention. The Centre, which is based in Paris, is staffed by conservation experts from around the world who coordinate within UNESCO activities relating to World Heritage including management of the Convention, organization of the annual World Heritage Committee meeting, distribution of International Assistance and the coordination of reports, education, information and communication. The World Heritage Centre is the route through which to contact the World Heritage Committee. The Centre is organized into regional teams (the UNESCO regions are: Africa; Arab States; Asia and Pacific; Europe and North America; Latin America and the Caribbean); and a series of specialized cross-cutting themes. The Centre’s website (http://whc.unesco.org) includes a large amount of information of use to World Heritage managers.
Source(s): https://whc.unesco.org/en/managing-natural-world-heritage/
The World Heritage Committee meets once a year, and consists of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the Convention elected for terms up to six years. The Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, allocates financial assistance from the World Heritage Fund and has the final say on whether a site is inscribed on the World Heritage List. It examines reports on the state of conservation of inscribed sites and decides on the inscription or removal of sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The World Heritage Committee meets annually and consists of representatives from twenty-one of the States Parties to the Convention, who are elected by the General Assembly for terms up to six years.
The Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance. It decides whether a property is to be inscribed on the World Heritage List; examines reports on the state of conservation of inscribed properties and requests States Parties to take action when properties are not being adequately managed. It also decides on the inscription or deletion of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger and the possible deletion of properties from the World Heritage List if deemed necessary.
Individual natural World Heritage properties are most likely to be aware of the Committee’s work through the decisions made at the Committee meeting, which will be conveyed to States Parties and World Heritage sites by the World Heritage Centre. The World Heritage Committee can be contacted through its secretariat, the World Heritage Centre.
Source(s): https://whc.unesco.org/en/managing-natural-world-heritage/
The World Heritage Convention, adopted in 1972, is a legally binding instrument providing an intergovernmental framework for international cooperation for the identification and conservation of the world's most outstanding natural and cultural properties. The document developed from the merging of two separate movements: the first focusing on the preservation of cultural sites, and the other dealing with the conservation of nature and defines the kind of natural or cultural sites which can be considered for inscription on the World Heritage List.
It sets out the duties of States Parties in identifying potential sites and their role in protecting and preserving them. Under the Convention, States Parties are obliged to report regularly to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of their World Heritage properties. These reports are crucial to the work of the Committee as they enable it to assess the conditions of the sites, decide on specific programme needs and resolve recurrent problems.
Source(s): http://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/
The UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme, initiated as a UNESCO special project in 1994, gives young people a chance to voice their concerns and to become involved in the protection of our common cultural and natural heritage. It seeks to encourage and enable tomorrow’s decision-makers to participate in heritage conservation and to respond to the continuing threats facing our World Heritage. The idea of involving young people in World Heritage preservation and promotion came as a response to Article 27 of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention).
Source(s): https://whc.unesco.org/en/wheducation/
The World Heritage emblem represents the interdependence of the world’s natural and cultural diversity. It is used to identify properties protected by the World Heritage Convention and inscribed on the official World Heritage List, and represents the universal values for which the Convention stands.
Designed by Belgian artist Michel Olyff, it was adopted as the official emblem of the World Heritage Convention in 1978. While the central square symbolizes the results of human skill and inspiration, the circle celebrates the gifts of nature. The emblem is round, like the world, a symbol of global protection for the heritage of all humankind.
Its use is strictly regulated and determined by the World Heritage Committee, with guidelines for its use defined in Chap. VIII + Annex 14 of the Operational Guidelines.
It is protected under the international World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) act.
Source(s): https://whc.unesco.org/en/emblem/
See ‘National Focal Point’.
The Fund for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of Outstanding Universal Value, called "the World Heritage Fund", was established under Article 15 of the World Heritage Convention. Its resources consist primarily of assessed contributions by the States Parties of the Convention and may be used only for such purposes as the World Heritage Committee shall define.
Article 4 of the World Heritage Convention states:
"Each State Party to this Convention recognizes that the duty of ensuring the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and
transmission to future generations of the cultural and natural heritage referred to in Articles 1 and 2 and situated on its territory, belongs primarily
to that State ...".
The World Heritage Convention does not specifically define identification. Throughout the Convention reference is made to the "identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of the cultural and natural heritage".
Article 5 of the Convention makes reference to a number of "effective and active measures" that can be taken by States Parties in ensuring this "identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission" (UNESCO 1972). Within the Operational Guidelines the identification of properties for potential inclusion in the World Heritage List is referred to as the first step in the process of World Heritage conservation.
Source(s): Glossary of World Heritage Terms related to the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (1996)
One of the main tools of the World Heritage Education Programme, the World Heritage in Young Hands Educational Resource Kit for secondary school teachers was developed in 1998. It aims to sensitize young people to the importance of preserving their local, national and world heritage.
Consult the Resource Kit here.
Source(s): https://whc.unesco.org/en/educationkit/
The World Heritage List is a list of cultural and natural heritage as defined in Articles 2 and 3 of the World Heritage Convention, deemed to be of 'Outstanding Universal Value'. It is established, updated and published by the World Heritage Committee as per Article 11 of the World Heritage Convention and is drawn from the national inventories referred to in Article 11.1 of the World Heritage Convention.
The World Heritage Resource Manual 'Managing Cultural World Heritage' states 'The World Heritage system requires States Parties to engage in the management of cultural properties in two different and significant stages which form a continuum.
1) A State Party must first demonstrate, as part of the inscription process, how it will manage the Outstanding Universal Value of the property by responding to issues raised in the nomination format and by demonstrating the existence of a management plan, or other management system, that is adequate for protecting the property.
2) After inscription, a State Party must respect its commitment to safeguarding the Outstanding Universal Value of the property through effective long-term management, and through a series of World Heritage procedures which allow this protection to be verified.
Source(s): World Heritage Resource Manual, Managing Cultural World Heritage
A special cooperation agreement existing between World Heritage properties, for example such as exists between two the World Heritage Marine sites, Banc d’Arguin National Park (Mauritania) and the Wadden Sea (Denmark/Germany/The Netherlands).
World Heritage properties are those defined in Articles 1 and 2 of the World Heritage Convention and inscribed on the World Heritage List on the basis of their Outstanding Universal Value, which is fulfilled through meeting one or more of criteria (i)–(x) as explained in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention.
World Heritage Resource Manuals are tools available to help States Parties in their implementation of the World Heritage Convention.
Consult the Resource Manuals
If a place has 'World Heritage status', it means that it has been deemed to have Outstanding Universal Value and has been inscribed on the World Heritage List.
Consult the World Heritage List: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/.