ICOMOS, in partnership with the African World Heritage Fund, is currently developing a Capacity Building programme whose aim is to enhance the professional expertise of African heritage professionals to be involved in World Heritage processes.

UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee – ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property), ICOMOS and IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) - have released a newly revised toolkit for assessing the effectiveness of management systems of World Heritage properties. Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit 2.0 offers a World Heritage-specific methodology of management effectiveness assessment that can be applied to cultural, natural and mixed sites.

The workshop, which took place between November 13 and November 20, 2023 in Port Louis, Mauritius, saw the active participation of 15 professionals working with World Heritage properties in Mauritius and 10 professionals working with World Heritage properties in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

World Heritage Resource Manuals

ICOMOS contributed to a series of resource manuals jointly prepared by the Advisory Bodies (ICOMOS, IUCN and ICCROM) and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. These manuals contribute to training and capacity-building in areas where States Parties and World Heritage Site managers require increased support, such as management of natural and cultural World Heritage, preparation of nominations and disaster risk management. See the World Heritage Resource Manuals

Connecting Practice project in collaboration with IUCN

The World Heritage Convention brings together nature and culture in a single international conservation instrument. Nevertheless, a divide is still often observed between these two areas. The Connecting Practice Project is a joint initiative of ICOMOS and IUCN launched in 2013 to promote a more global consideration of cultural and natural heritage within the framework of the World Heritage Convention. It aims to develop conceptual and practical approaches that recognize the interaction between natural and cultural values of heritage properties. The first stage of the project ended in 2015. See the final report of the Connecting Practice project

Photo:  Konso cultural landscape, Ethiopia © Flickr / David Stanley

Activities on post-trauma reconstruction

In 2016, ICOMOS brought together experts from around the world in a series of symposiums and seminars focusing on post-trauma reconstruction. These activities have been organized in response to the scale and persistence of damage to World Heritage caused by natural disasters and conflict situations in recent years. Eventually, ICOMOS will produce guidance intended for States Parties dealing with the complex process of rebuilding their heritage. See the proceedings of the symposium on post-trauma reconstruction of 4 March 2016

World Heritage and sustainable development

In 2015, the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention adopted the Policy for the Integration of a Sustainable Development Perspective into the Processes of the World Heritage Convention. Implementation of this policy’s provisions is at the heart of ICOMOS’ priorities. ICOMOS is committed to supporting the policy and promoting its application within the World Heritage community and the general public. See the Policy for the Integration of a Sustainable Development Perspective into the Processes of the World Heritage Convention.

World Heritage and human rights

Since 2011, the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Convention have been implementing actions to better understand the place of human rights in World Heritage activities. The World Heritage and rights-based approaches project, led by ICOMOS, IUCN and ICCROM in 2014, promoted good practice regarding human rights and developed tools for higher consideration of these rights within the Advisory Bodies’ work. The project was structured around a number of case studies presented and discussed at a workshop held in Oslo in early April 2014. More information on World Heritage and rights-based approaches

Photo : Mostar bridge, Bosnia-Herzegovina © Flickr / Alexandrino Arthur