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A one year and a half evaluation cycle by world heritage experts 

At ICOMOS, the evaluation cycle for nomination dossiers is spread over a year and a half. During this period, the organization uses its network of experts to study the nominated properties using two complementary approaches:

an evaluation mission carried out on site in order to study the authenticity and integrity of the property, its boundaries as well as the factors affecting its protection, conservation and management ;

a desk review to check if the property has Outstanding Universal Value. 

Once this task is completed, the ICOMOS World Heritage Panel gets together to examine the reports provided by the experts. The Panel is composed of the Bureau members of the ICOMOS Board, representatives of the International Scientific Committees and independent experts. It is established annually in accordance with the regions, typologies and historical periods represented in the nomination dossiers.

 

 

Nominations : inscribed, referred back or deferred ? 

With the assistance of advisors designated by ICOMOS, the Panel analyzes the information provided by the experts in their evaluation missions and desk reviews in order to formulate the official ICOMOS recommendations regarding the nominated properties. The four possible recommendations are:

• Inscription: the property is of Outstanding Universal Value and meets the management and protection requirements.
• Referral: the property is of Outstanding Universal Value but the management and protection conditions are not satisfactory. The State Party is asked to submit additionnal information within three years in order to remedy the shortcomings.
• Deferral: the property needs further demonstration of its potential Outstanding Universal Value. The State Party is asked to submit a new nomination dossier. 
• Non-inscription: the property is not of Outstanding Universal Value. 

These recommendations are conveyed to the States Parties and made public six weeks before the annual session of the World Heritage Committee. They are then presented at the session by a representative of ICOMOS in order to help the Committee in its deliberations. It is up to the latter to decide whether to inscribe a site on the List.

 

 Download: ICOMOS evaluation process diagram

 

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is a non-governmental organization responsible for supporting UNESCO in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention.

It is one of the three advisory bodies named in the 1972 Convention, alongside the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). In this capacity, it provides scientific and professional assistance to the World Heritage Committee on cultural heritage issues. Specifically, it assesses the cultural and mixed (possessing both cultural and natural features) properties put forward for inscription on the World Heritage List and provides reports on the state of conservation of inscribed sites. 

ICOMOS diligently ensures the implementation and intellectual development of the Convention’s principles through a variety of initiatives. To this end, it benefits from a vast professional network consisting of its National Committees, its International Scientific Committees and its individual members, chosen for their competence and experience. It also works in close collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Center, IUCN and ICCROM.

 

Photo: ICOMOS Headquarters entrance, Charenton-le-Pont, France © Lucile Smirnov / ICOMOS

 

ICOMOS members are professionals in disciplines concerned with the protection and conservation of cultural heritage. Most professionals travel a great deal within their own countries and abroad, both on business and for pleasure, and these visits frequently take them to towns, monuments, and sites that are inscribed on the World Heritage List. The object of the form provided is to enable members or profesionnals to provide short, informal reports on any observations they have made during their visit to any World Heritage Sites.

The reports will be used primarily to build up a database, to assist the efforts of ICOMOS in its World Heritage work. Where attention is drawn to serious threats to the conservation and integrity of properties on the List, the Secretariat may make use of the reports to initiate corrective action through the World Heritage Committee and UNESCO. It should be stressed that these reports will be treated in strict confidence by the International Secretariat. 

If you are a member of ICOMOS and wish to fill in a World Heritage site visit report, please download the provided form and return it to ICOMOS by e-mail, post or fax to the ICOMOS International Secretariat in Paris.

→ Download report form (Word document)

 

Photo : Urnes Stave Church, Norway © Flickr / karaian