1. What is the Working Group UNESCO World Heritage ?
Despite the fact that European cultural heritage and mountain ecosystems are well represented on the UNESCO World Heritage List, sites reflecting the alpine heritage are still under-represented and would need a more comprehensive and integrated approach. As the Alpine Convention offers a unique opportunity to sustainably valorise the outstanding heritage of the Alps, in 2006 the Alpine Conference established a working group aimed inter alia at facilitating transboundary and serial applications to the World Heritage List from the Alpine arc. In 2009 the Xth Alpine Conference requested the Working Group to cluster potential alpine sites according to the themes that emerged from its analysis. The Group is now able to move towards a full screening of the Alpine arc matching the global “demand” for sites of outstanding universal value with the regional “offer”.
The World Heritage Committee recommends a “comprehensive representation of the stakeholders” in the processes related to the determination and protection of the sites on the World Heritage List. For this reason broad and active participation in the Working Group UNESCO World Heritage is desirable. The Working Group, which is constituted of representatives and experts of the Contracting Parties and Observers, may invite representatives of concerned local administrations and associations as well as experts to special hearings.
List of members
2. Objectives
The mandate given by the XIth Alpine Conference in 2011 charges the Working Group to carry out the following tasks:
- Contribution to the harmonisation of the national Tentative Lists on the basis of consolidated information about transboundary and/or serial sites situated in the Alps;
- Further development of the study on the outstanding universal values of the Alps in order to reach a shared definition of these values meeting the criteria of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee;
- Facilitation of the exchange of experience on managing sites already inscribed in the World Heritage List and elaboration of proposals for potential transboundary and/or serial sites from the Alps;
- Examination of possibilities to implement the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and other instruments of the UNESCO for the valorisation of alpine sites and activities;
- Communication and knowledge exchange in particular with UNESCO bodies.
3. Activities, documents, results
4. Links
* un-official English translations provided by the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention