ICOMOS World Heritage Panel 2024-2025

From 21 to 29 November 2024, the ICOMOS World Heritage Panel met at the ICOMOS headquarters in Charenton-le-Pont, in order to discuss 25 cultural and mixed properties nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List in 2025 and assessed whether they met the necessary conditions for inscription.

The Panel meeting was divided in three parts. During the first part, Panel members examined and discussed the cultural and mixed sites nominated for inscription. During the second part, delegations from each nominating States Parties had the opportunity to hold meetings with the ICOMOS Panel.  Finally, the third and last part of the Panel, Panel members adopted provisional recommendations and discussed the content of the Interim reports and the additional information requests.

As prescribed by the Operational Guidelines, Interim reports were delivered to each nominating State Party by end-December 2024.

Before the discussions took place, Panel members rigorously examined a range of documents including: the nomination dossiers and additional information submitted by States Parties as well as the ICOMOS technical evaluation mission reports, the desk reviews and information provided by relevant ICOMOS National Committees and were requested to provide a written report.

A second meeting of the ICOMOS World Heritage Panel was held in March 2025 to discuss the responses received from the States Parties and adopt the final recommendations for all nominated sites.

The ICOMOS Panel, which brings together some thirty persons, is made up of individual experts appointed by ICOMOS from its networks (ICOMOS Board, representatives of ICOMOS International Scientific Committees, ICOMOS members) and beyond who collectively possess a wide range of relevant world heritage skills and experience. The Panel members are selected each year depending on the nature of the properties nominated (e.g., rock art, 20th century heritage, industrial heritage, etc.) and on the basis of geo-cultural balanced representation. The collective expertise of the Panel is complimented by the advice provided by the ICOMOS advisors. They represent the various professional, geographic and cultural sensibilities present at the international level.

All Panel members must declare any potential conflict of interest. In all cases, an ICOMOS Panel member whose nationality is the same as that of the subject of the evaluation is absent from the discussion and decision-making process. At the beginning of the meeting, all Panel members are required to sign the ICOMOS World Heritage Policy Paper and the ICOMOS Commitment of Confidentiality.

The Panel members undertake to respect the confidentiality of the discussions that occur, including the agreed ICOMOS recommendations. In finalizing and releasing the outcomes of the evaluations, communication with States Parties should be conducted solely via the ICOMOS International Secretariat.

As of the 2024-2025 evaluation cycle, and following a change in the composition of the Panel, each of the 5 regions is represented, approximately, by 20% of ICOMOS Commission members.

In the framework of a collaboration between ICOMOS and the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and of an MoU between ICOMOS and the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), experts from the Africa and Arab States regions received funding to participate in person to Panel meetings.

ICOMOS hopes these fruitful collaborations will continue throughout the coming years, as this ensures a balanced and solid regional representation in accordance with the standards of the ICOMOS evaluation procedure.