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Adopting a Holistic Approach to Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection Under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention

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Heritage in War and Peace

Part of the book series: Law and Visual Jurisprudence ((LVJ,volume 12))

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Abstract

Combining the protection of cultural and natural heritage of Outstanding Universal Value in one international treaty—the UNESCO World Heritage Convention—is an innovative achievement; however, the Operational Guidelines for its implementation separate the treatment of cultural and natural heritage. Authenticity in particular reinforces the culture/nature divide as it only applies to cultural properties and to the cultural aspects of mixed properties. This paper questions the practical utility of authenticity in heritage protection. It argues for adopting a holistic approach that brings together the multiple dimensions of heritage and proposes an alternative conceptual and operational framework: the dynamic triad of integrity-continuity-compatibility. This framework bridges the culture/nature divide, enables a more holistic protection of heritage and supports its role in meeting global challenges and agendas, notably sustainable development goals. The paper provides an original perspective on the future of heritage protection and is part of the author’s independent research, which gradually develops a practical policy proposal for the future implementation of the Convention.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Convention considers monuments, groups of buildings, and sites as cultural heritage; natural features, geological and physiographical formations, and natural sites as natural heritage (UNESCO 1972, Articles 1, 2).

  2. 2.

    As of October 2020, 194 States Parties have ratified the Convention.

  3. 3.

    As of January 2023, the WHL contains a total of 1157 properties located across 167 States Parties: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/. Accessed 25 Jan 2023

  4. 4.

    Three Advisory Bodies are identified in the Convention: ICCROM, ICOMOS, and IUCN (UNESCO 1972, Article 8); however, only ICOMOS and IUCN evaluate nominations as noted in the OG (UNESCO 2021, paragraph 31(e)).

  5. 5.

    The Committee has decision-making autonomy and consists of representatives of 21 States Parties elected at a General Assembly. They usually serve a four-year term (UNESCO 2021, paragraph 21).

  6. 6.

    The Committee revised the OG almost 30 times since 1977 to reflect new concepts, knowledge, and experiences. The latest version, at the time of writing, was released in 2021. All the versions are available on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre: https://whc.unesco.org/en/guidelines/. Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  7. 7.

    The culture/nature divide has long been an issue of concern. In an attempt to bridge this divide, the Committee recognized cultural landscapes as a category of property in 1992; it adopted the Global Strategy for a representative, balanced and credible WHL in 1994; it revised the wording of the OUV criteria over the years; it merged the six cultural criteria and four natural criteria into one set of 10 criteria in 2005; and it supported the joint ICOMOS-IUCN “Connecting Practice” project from 2013 onwards, but the divide persists in the implementation of the Convention. An integrated and holistic approach that effectively brings together cultural and natural heritage to allow for the recognition of a more holistic range of values and culture-nature interlinkages is yet to be introduced in the OG. The alternative conceptual and operational framework proposed in this paper bridges the divide, as will be shown later.

  8. 8.

    Reactive monitoring applies to specific World Heritage properties that are under threat whereas periodic reporting is a more regular monitoring process led by the States Parties and serves many purposes, including to record the changing circumstances and state of conservation of properties (UNESCO 2021, paragraphs 169–176, 199–210).

  9. 9.

    The Committee has defined specific categories (types) of cultural and natural properties in the OG, including cultural landscapes, historic towns and town centres, heritage canals, and heritage routes (UNESCO 2019, Annex 3).

  10. 10.

    Historic towns and town centres (also known as groups of buildings under Article 1 of the Convention) fall into three categories: (i) towns which are no longer inhabited, (ii) historic towns which are still inhabited, and (iii) new towns of the twentieth century (UNESCO 1987, paragraphs 24–31; 2019, Annex 3 pp. 84–86).

  11. 11.

    In October of the same year, the Charter for the Conservation of Historic Towns and Urban Areas (Washington Charter) was adopted by the ICOMOS General Assembly. The Charter does not address the assessment of authenticity; it simply states that any threat to the qualities that express the character of a historic town or urban area would compromise its authenticity (ICOMOS 1987, Article 2), but this author would argue that a potential threat may rather compromise its integrity and the continuity of its character. Integrity and continuity are defined and discussed later in the paper.

  12. 12.

    https://slsa.ac.uk/images/2022winter/Heritage_in_War_and_Peace_publication.pdf Accessed 19 June 2022.

  13. 13.

    It is worth noting here that some scholars have later attempted to clarify the difference between the two concepts. For example, Stovel (2007, p. 21) suggested that “authenticity may be understood as the ability of a property to convey its significance over time, and integrity understood as the ability of a property to secure or sustain its significance over time.” However, one may argue that if a cultural property is able to secure or sustain its significance, it is, logically, able to convey it in the first place. Therefore, following this logic, integrity renders authenticity redundant. In fact, the word “convey” is used in the OG to define integrity (UNESCO 2021, paragraphs 88(b), 89). In this author’s view, integrity may be understood as the ability of a cultural or natural property to both convey and sustain its significance through the continuity of the attributes of OUV and other values (which may change over time)—and this is clarified later in the paper.

  14. 14.

    The need for documentation is clarified later in this paper.

  15. 15.

    For clarification, the Committee has adopted five strategic objectives, also known as the “5Cs,” to facilitate the implementation of the Convention: credibility (1st C), conservation (2nd C), capacity-building (3rd C), communication (4th C), and communities (5th C).

  16. 16.

    A monument in France, inscribed under criteria (i)(iv). Continuity is embedded in the justification for inscription: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1625 Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  17. 17.

    A group of buildings in Jordan, criteria (ii)(iii): https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/689 Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  18. 18.

    A serial property of two sites in Iran, criteria (iii)(v): https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1647 Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  19. 19.

    The temples and shrines constitute a group of buildings, and the Nara Palace Site, the Kasuga-Taisha Compound, and the Kasugayama Primeval Forest are sites, as set out in Article 1 of the Convention. This cultural property is in Japan and was inscribed under criteria (ii)(iii)(iv)(vi): https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/870 Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  20. 20.

    The 2030 Agenda was later strategically linked to the New Urban Agenda (Habitat III), which is of particular relevance to World Heritage cities; however, this paper focuses on the 2030 Agenda, which is mentioned in the OG.

  21. 21.

    Climate action or “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts” (SDG 13) is fundamental to achieving many SDGs that have explicit targets for building climate resilience and/or reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as SDG 1, Target 1.5; SDG 2, Target 2.4; SDG 11, Target 11.b (UN 2015).

  22. 22.

    Extreme weather events, sea level rise, flooding, wildfires, drought, desertification, erosion, coral bleaching, species migration, and loss of biodiversity are among the consequences of climate change facing cultural and natural heritage.

  23. 23.

    The website of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre clarifies that by signing the Convention, each State Party pledges to protect its national heritage (cultural and natural heritage in its entirety): https://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/ Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  24. 24.

    https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/integrity Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  25. 25.

    This category of property, as set out in Article 1 of the Convention, is a site, in Afghanistan, inscribed under criteria (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi): https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/208 Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  26. 26.

    https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/integrity Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  27. 27.

    https://www.lexico.com/definition/continuity Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  28. 28.

    https://whc.unesco.org/en/about/ Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  29. 29.

    A cultural landscape and mixed site, inscribed under criteria (iii)(vi)(ix). The SOUV relies heavily on continuity: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1415 Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  30. 30.

    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compatibility Accessed 1 Oct 2022.

  31. 31.

    As of 2021, the Committee has delisted three properties due to inappropriate, incompatible, interventions (resource extraction, infrastructure and development projects). It has not yet done so due to impacts beyond the sole control of States Parties, such as climate change.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consultant Architect and Independent Scholar, Kuwait City, Kuwait

    Roha W. Khalaf

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  1. Roha W. Khalaf
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Gianluigi Mastandrea Bonaviri

  2. University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Mirosław Michał Sadowski

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Khalaf, R.W. (2024). Adopting a Holistic Approach to Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection Under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. In: Mastandrea Bonaviri, G., Sadowski, M.M. (eds) Heritage in War and Peace. Law and Visual Jurisprudence, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47347-0_7

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