[text currently under revision]

Sites which are annually inscribed on the World Heritage List are subject to rigorous selection. It is ICOMOS' mission as an advisory body for UNESCO to evaluate all cultural and mixed (possessing both cultural and natural features) properties nominated by States Parties each year.

In this regard, ICOMOS is responsible for determining whether the properties carry Outstanding Universal Value. The sites must meet the criteria and conditions of authenticity and integrity defined by UNESCO, and must be provided with adequate legal protection and good management systems. Following this evaluation, ICOMOS presents its recommendations to the annual session of the World Heritage Committee. The Committee is then responsible for the final decision regarding the listing of the properties.

Further Reading: The evaluation process in detail

Photo: Presentation of the Forth Bridge (UK) nomination at the 2015 World Heritage Committee session in Bonn, Germany. © ICOMOS

ICOMOS provides scientific and professional expertise to the World Heritage Committee on cultural heritage issues.

 

Evaluation ICOMOS evaluates the cultural properties nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List. Read more

Monitoring ICOMOS participates in monitoring the state of conservation of cultural properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. Read more

Advisory services ICOMOS gives advice to States Parties on matters related to the inscription or to the management of World Heritage cultural properties. Read more

Reflection ICOMOS participates in the intellectual development of the Convention through various events, projects and publications. Read more

 

Photo: Classical Gardens of Suzhou, China © Ronan Le Roscoet/ICOMOS

UNESCO World Heritage Convention

Year of adoption of the World Heritage Convention : 1972
Properties on the World Heritage List : 1157 (as of January 2023)
Cultural properties on the List : 900 (as of January 2023)
Natural properties on the List : 218 (as of January 2023)
Mixed properties on the List : 39 (as of January 2023)
Properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger : 55 (as of January 2023)
States Parties to the Convention : 194
States Parties on the World Heritage Committee : 21
Last revision of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention : 2021
World Heritage Fund : 5,9 millions $US/year (for the biennium 2022-2023)

ICOMOS

Year of creation : 1965
Individual members : 9500 (in 151 countries)
Institutional members : 265
National committees : 113
International Scientific Committees : 30

World Heritage Missions

Reactive monitoring missions: 7 (June 2023)
Advisory missions: 6 (June 2023)
Evaluation of nominated properties : 55 discussed at the 44th extended session of the World Heritage Committee, Fuzhou (July 2021)
State of conservation reports (SOC) : 104 (June 2023)

  

Photo : Archaeological site of Sabratha, Libya © Gordontour / Flickr

ICOMOS rallies its network of experts to serve UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention.

UNESCO adopted the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972. The Convention is dedicated to the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission of cultural and natural heritage throughout the world. To do so, sites recognized as being of Outstanding Universal Value are inscribed each year on the World Heritage List. These sites represent the shared heritage of humankind and need to be preserved for current and future generations. They bear witness of our shared history and represent the dialogue between cultures.

ICOMOS assisted UNESCO in writing the Convention text, in which it was appointed advisory body to the World Heritage Committee. Its role is to support the implementation of the cultural side of the Convention. Through its global network composed of numerous committees and experts from various backgrounds, ICOMOS has been involved in the theoretical and practical implementation of the Convention for almost fifty years.

 

Photo: Historic Centre of Macao, China  © Flickr / Dennis Wong

 

 

 

 

The World Heritage Convention is a global conservation tool that combines culture and nature to promote dialogue between peoples.

 

Adopted by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1972, it is the only international treaty dedicated to both the preservation of cultural properties and the protection of nature. It is based on the principle that some cultural and natural sites are of such importance that their significance transcends national boundaries and holds the same inestimable worth for the whole of humankind. This is called Outstanding Universal Value.

States Parties which have ratified the Convention agree to nominate cultural and natural sites within their territories for inscription on the World Heritage List. The World Heritage Committee then decides whether to list the proposed sites. Once a site is inscribed on the List, the State Party must ensure the protection of the values that have earned it World Heritage status. The Committee monitors the state of conservation of the property and may request State Parties to take special measures when it deems necessary.

The World Heritage Committee is assisted in its mission by the World Heritage Centre, acting as secretariat of the Convention, as well as by three advisory bodies: ICOMOS and ICCROM (International Centre for the study of the preservation and restoration of cultural property)  for the cultural side and IUCN (International Union for conservation of nature) for the natural side.

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Selection criteria

To be inscribed on the World Heritage List, cultural and mixed properties must meet at least one of the six selection criteria for cultural heritage:

(i) to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;
(ii) to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
(iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
(iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
(v) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;
(vi) to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.