Reflection on the future of the World Heritage Convention

WHC-10/34.COM/12A

The World Heritage Convention is fast approaching a number of important milestones, including its 40th anniversary in 2012, the potential inscription of the 1000th property to the World Heritage List, and near universal ratification. In view of this, the World Heritage Committee, at its 32nd Session (Quebec, 2008), decided to initiate a process of reflection on the future of the World Heritage Convention (the ‘Futures process’).This document outlines the context behind the Futures process, the discussion to date and the next steps in the Futures process, in order to guide the development of the World Heritage Convention following its 40th Anniversary in 2012.