Academic literature on the topic 'Study and analysis of The Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention'

UNESCO’s world heritage program aims to protect sites of cultural and natural heritage worldwide. Issues of local communities and well-being have been given increasing attention by heritage conservation scholars, but a systemic review of UNESCO guidelines has not been performed. Here, we examine the evolution of the ‘Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention,’ documents representing the heritage conservation policies of UNESCO over the period 1994–2019. Using keyword analysis and document analysis, the findings show evidence of an increasing emphasis on local communities, growing primarily since 2005. However, the theme of well-being only first emerged in the operational guidelines in 2019. Political, economic, and environmental challenges idiosyncratic to specific places often complicate the role of local communities and well-being in heritage conservation priorities. Future research should investigate the potential implementation and implications of these changes for the guidelines at specific UNESCO world heritage sites.

At a time when climate change, conflicts, disasters, and other global crises and challenges are increasingly affecting World Heritage properties, the utility of conservation assessment standards must be rethought. This article proposes abandoning the assessment of authenticity to treat properties less as “things”, deemed authentic or not, and more as evolving “processes” that embrace continuity and compatible change, which, it is argued, helps meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, namely climate change mitigation and adaptation; building back better after conflicts, disasters, or pandemics; and, ultimately, achieving sustainable development goals. Drawing on policy analysis and a wide range of literature, the article explains why authenticity is not a useful concept and why the idea of “heritage as process” is more relevant to the contemporary world. It shows how this idea can be put into effect and linked to Outstanding Universal Value, integrity, protection and management, which are already requirements in UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. In doing so, it contributes to aligning the implementation of the Convention with that of the global agendas of our time.

The inscription of historic urban quarters on the World Heritage List can be considered as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, UNESCO's Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention has been introduced as the most effective international instrument for the conservation and sustainable development of cultural heritage. On the other hand, many researchers have been discussing the many problems faced by the World Heritage Sites. This descriptive-analytic study aims to examine the effects of the inscription of historic urban quarters on the World Heritage List on the conservation and sustainable development of these sites. The research population consisted of 36 university professors, experts of cultural heritage and UNESCO experts. The measurement tool was a questionnaire with 34 questions that examined the factors affecting inscription on the World Heritage List by four indicators, including conservation, facilities, cultural sustainability and economic sustainability, in the form of a SWOT model using the Delphi method. Data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The results of the study showed protection of the cultural heritage against unnatural hazards as the most important positive point; the threat to the local community life due to tourist crowds as the most important disadvantage; increased investment in the historical context as the best opportunity; and a weak recognition of the tastes of foreign tourists as the most important threat. Also, in prioritization of the indicators, indicators of conservation and cultural sustainability were more effective than others.

The subject of the research in the framework of the article is the international and national practice of regulation and implementation of activities in the field of tourism in the Central Ecological zone of the Baikal Natural Territory. As part of the analysis of the impact of tourism activities on the ecosystem of the World Heritage site "Lake Baikal", based on the materials of the authorities, conclusions are formulated about the possibility of deterioration of the ecological state of Lake Baikal and the emergence of social tension in the event of an increase in the number of tourists on its shores. The content of guidelines on the organization of tourism at UNESCO World Heritage sites is disclosed, the most successful international practices of tourism management are correlated with the implementation of regional programs for the development and organization of sustainable tourism. The conclusion is formulated about the importance of collecting information about the tourist infrastructure, statistical data. The program documents defining the policy in the field of tourism in the Central ecological zone of the Baikal Natural Territory are analyzed, the conclusion is made that there is no unified strategy for the development of Baikal as a World Heritage site. The factor of significant influence and participation of the local population in the implementation of tourist activities is noted, the need for the involvement of the local population in the planning of tourist activities is indicated. The analysis of the Global Code of Ethics of Tourism, the Framework Convention on the Ethics of Tourism. The main content of the Global Initiative to Reduce Plastic Consumption in Tourism and recommendations for improving procurement activities in the tourism sector are revealed. The problem of compliance with moral and ethical requirements by subjects of relations in the field of tourism is noted as one of the underestimated problems. The study resulted in recommendations both on the modernization of the existing domestic regulatory framework and the development of new documents in the field of sustainable tourism.

PurposeThe study aims to analyze the development of Omani heritage legislation against the UNESCO World Heritage Convention (WHC), 1972 and WHC Operational Guidelines (WHC-OGs) to predict the possible effects of the recent developments on the management of the World Heritage Site in Oman.Design/methodology/approachThis study discusses the development of the heritage protection legislation in Sultanate of Oman since 1970; it analyses the Omani Cultural Heritage Law 35/2019 against the recommendations of the UNESCO WHC as well as the requirements of the World Heritage Operational Guidelines. Moreover, the research investigates the possible effects of the recent heritage legislation developments on the management of Bahla Fort and Oasis in Oman, which is the first Omani World Heritage Site and the only site with special management regulations.FindingsThe paper outlines the effects of both the Omani Cultural Heritage Law 35/2019 and the Special Management Regulations 81/2019 on the implementation of the Bahla Management Plan. Additionally, the research establishes how the customization of heritage legislation as a special heritage management regulation facilitates the implementation of national legislation to solve specific local problems.Originality/valueThe study establishes the significance of developing comprehensive legislation to protect and manage the rich Omani cultural heritage and World Heritage Sites in alignment with the WHC and the WHC-OGs.

L’obiettivo principale di questa ricerca è individuare, attraverso il censimento di siti ex- minerari iscritti nel patrimonio mondiale dell’Unesco, i modi di applicazione dei criteri selettivi fissati dall’Unesco nelle procedure decisionali per l’iscrizione di tali siti nella lista del patrimonio universale dell’Unesco. Questo interesse è funzionale all’acquisizione di conoscenze utili alla formazione di una figura di architetto-ricercatore particolarmente richiesta a livello internazionale. La compilazione di Dossier per la candidatura di siti minerari e complessi industriali all’iscrizione nella lista dell’Unesco rappresenta un impegno di notevole complessità, che non può prescindere da una serie di apporti interdisciplinari: dallo storico dell’economia a quello dell’industria, dal geografo al geologo, dal chimico all’archeologo. Accade sempre più spesso che il ruolo di coordinamento di un lavoro complesso, che richiede l’esecuzione di rilievi e di campagne fotografiche, sia affidato a professionisti formatisi come architetti. Fondamentale spesso anche il loro ruolo nella individuazione dei criteri più efficaci nel sostenere le diverse candidature. Le schedature dei siti e dei complessi minerari presentate nella prima parte della tesi assolvono alla funzione di indicare una casistica di applicazione dei criteri Unesco dalla quale si possono dedurre utili indicazioni operative. Ovviamente occorre avere ben presente che, al di là del rispetto dei principi di selezione affermate a livello teorico, le decisioni dell’Unesco sono spesso influenzate, anche in modo determinante , da considerazioni d’ordine geopolitico, che inducono non di rado a decisioni in conflitto con i criteri affermati.E’ l’elenco di queste infrazioni alle regole potrebbe essere molto lungo, ed alcune, particolarmente clamorose si possono riscontrare nell’elenco del patrimonio architettonico del XX secolo, dove figurano per esempio gli edifici del Bauhaus di Walter Gropius, che avrebbero dovuto essere esclusi perchè trattasi di radicali ricostruzioni, mentre non figura ancora nessun edificio di Le Corbusier, nonostante numerosi siano quelli in uno buono stato di conservazione. L’attenzione della tesi si è focalizzata sui siti minerari del mercurio inseriti nella lista dell’Unesco nel 2012, perchè esiste in Italia un complesso di notevole interesse, anche per la qualità architettonica degli edifici industriali di Eugenio Montuori, che meriterebbe l’inclusione nella serie dei siti del mercurio. Per tale ragione si è scelto di farne un caso di studio, per individuare i criteri che potrebbero sostenerne la candidatura all’iscrizione nella lista dell’Unesco.The main objective of this research is to identify, through the census of former mining sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the modes of application of the selection criteria established by UNESCO in decision-making procedures for the registration of such sites in the list of Unesco world heritage site. This interest is functional to the acquisition of knowledge for the formation of a figure of architect-researcher in great demand internationally. The compilation of dossiers for the candidacy of mining and industrial complex sites to enrollment in the UNESCO list is a highly complex effort, which can not be separated by a series of interdisciplinary contributions: from the economic historian to that industry, by the geographer geologist, archaeologist from the chemical. It is increasingly the case that the role of coordinating a complex job that requires the execution of reliefs and photographic campaigns, should be entrusted to trained professionals such as architects. Often their fundamental role in the identification of the most effective policies to support different applications. The profiling of sites and mining complexes presented in the first part of the thesis fulfill the function of indicating a series of application of the Unesco criteria from which you can infer useful operational guidance. Obviously we must have in mind that, beyond the fulfillment of the established selection principles in theory, UNESCO's decisions are often influenced, even decisively, from the geopolitical considerations, which lead often to decisions conflict with the criteria affermati.E 'list of such breaches of the rules could be very long, and some, particularly clamorous to be found in the list of twentieth century architectural heritage, which include for example the buildings of Walter Gropius' Bauhaus that should have been excluded because case of radical reconstructions, while not figure still no building of Le Corbusier, despite numerous ones are in a good state of storage. The focus of the thesis is focused on the mining sites of mercury included in the UNESCO list in 2012, because in Italy there is a very interesting complex, even for the architectural quality of the industrial buildings of Eugene Montuori, which deserves inclusion in series of mercury sites. For this reason we have chosen to make a case study to identify the criteria that could support its nomination for the UNESCO list.