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How the World Heritage Convention contributes to sustainable development

The aim of the World Heritage Convention is the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of cultural and natural heritage of outstanding universal value. The text of the Convention, adopted in 1972, does not make any specific mention of the term “sustainable development” but it does carry the spirit and promise of sustainability in its insistence that culture and nature form a single, closed continuum of the planet’s resources, the integrated stewardship of which is essential to successful long-term sustainable development – and indeed to the future of life on the Earth as we know it.

This idea is enshrined in particular in Articles 4 and 5 of the Convention, recognizing that States Parties have the duty “of ensuring the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations (emphasis added) of the cultural and natural heritage”, as well as “to adopt a general policy which aims to give the cultural and natural heritage a function in the life of the community and to integrate the protection of that heritage into comprehensive planning programmes”. In this respect, the scope of action of the Convention seems to go beyond the sites included in its List of World Heritage properties, to encompass national heritage policies and wider development strategies.

By recognising the equal value of the world’s cultural and natural heritage, in all its diversity, and by encouraging and promoting international cooperation for its conservation, the 1972 Convention is inherently contributing to the building of mutual understanding, dialogue and solidarity among States and communities, which are the preconditions for sustainable development and peace.

In practice

As an attribute of natural and cultural diversity, World Heritage plays a fundamental role in fostering sustainable development and as a source of our wellbeing.

Through a variety of goods and services and as a storehouse of knowledge, a well-protected World Heritage property contributes directly to providing basic goods, security and health, through access to clean air, water, food and other key resources as well as by attracting investments and ensuring green, locally-based, stable and decent jobs, only some of which may be related to tourism. Most activities associated to the stewardship of cultural and natural heritage, indeed, are green “by design” since they embody an intrinsically more sustainable pattern of land use, consumption and production, developed over centuries if not millennia of slow adaptation. This is true for natural protected areas rich in biodiversity, of course, but also for cultural landscapes and historic cities.

Well-maintained heritage is also very important in addressing risks related to natural and human-made disasters. Experience has shown how the degradation of natural resources, neglected rural areas, urban sprawl and poorly engineered new constructions increase the vulnerability of communities to disaster risks, especially in poorer countries. On the other hand, a well-conserved natural and historic environment considerably reduces underlying disaster risks’ factors, strengthens the resilience of communities and saves lives.

World Heritage is also essential to the spiritual wellbeing of people for its powerful symbolic and aesthetic dimensions. The conservation of the diversity of the cultural and natural heritage, fair access to it and the equitable sharing of the benefits deriving from its use, enhance the feeling of place and belonging, mutual respect for others and a sense of purpose and ability to provide for children, which contribute to the social cohesion of the community as well as to individual and collective freedom of choice and action.

For all of these reasons, World Heritage – and heritage in general - is crucial to sustainable development, the physical and spiritual well-being of communities and to the building of mutual understanding and peace.

Policies that work

Over the decades, the link between World Heritage protection and sustainable development has been progressively reflected in the “Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the Convention”, which are periodically revised, and affirmed in some seminal policy documents.

The notion of sustainability entered the Operational Guidelines in 1994, with reference to the “sustainable use” of cultural landscapes, then introduced for the first time as a new category of heritage properties. At its 26th Session (Budapest, 2002), the World Heritage Committee adopted the so-called “Budapest Declaration”, which stressed the need to “ensure an appropriate and equitable balance between conservation, sustainability and development, so that World Heritage properties can be protected through appropriate activities contributing to the social and economic development and the quality of life of our communities”. In 2005, the notion of sustainable development was taken into account in the introductory part of the Operational Guidelines, which notes that “The protection and conservation of the natural and cultural heritage are a significant contribution to sustainable development” (paragraph 6). The Operational Guidelinesfurther recognise (paragraph 119) that World Heritage properties “may support a variety of on-going and proposed uses that are ecologically and culturally sustainable”. At its 31st Session (Christchurch 2007), furthermore, the World Heritage Committee decided to add “Communities” to the previous four strategic objectives, “to enhance the role of communities in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention” (Decision 31 COM 13B).

More recently, the issue of sustainable development has acquired increasing importance within World Heritage policy-making.

At its 35^th Session (Paris, 2011), the World Heritage Committee made a number of additions to theOperational Guidelines which refer to sustainable development, notably in paragraphs 112, 119, 132, as well as in Annex 5, points 4.b and 5.e. These amendments are aimed on one hand at ensuring that any use of World Heritage properties be sustainable with respect to the imperative of maintaining their Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and on the other hand to affirm the idea that management systems of World Heritage properties should “integrate sustainable development principles”. Various paragraphs of the Operational Guidelines, moreover, call for a full participatory approach in the identification, protection and management of World Heritage properties (e.g. paragraphs 64, 111 and 123).

The recent “Strategic Action Plan for the Implementation of the Convention, 2012-2022”, adopted by the 18th General Assembly (Paris, 2011), also integrates a concern for sustainable development, notably in its “Vision for 2022”, which calls for the World Heritage Convention to “contribute to the sustainable development of the world’s communities and cultures”, as well as through its Goal N.3 which reads: “Heritage protection and conservation considers present and future environmental, societal and economic needs”, which is to be achieved particularly through “connecting conservation to communities”. These topics are being also increasingly addressed within capacity-building initiatives associated to World Heritage, as demonstrated, by way of example, by the recent establishment within a UNESCO Category 2 Centre in Turin (Italy) of a Master Course on the Economics of Heritage Conservation in partnership with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies of the Convention.

Finally, the official theme for the celebrations of the Convention’s 40^th anniversary, in 2012, is “World Heritage and Sustainable Development: the Role of Communities”. A number of meetings and events focused on this theme are scheduled over this year, starting from the Consultative Meeting which has just taken place at Ouro Preto, Brazil (6-8 February 2012), at the request of the World Heritage Committee. These initiatives will result in new ideas and recommendations that will be considered by the World Heritage Committee at its 36^thSession (St. Petersburg, June/July 2012) as well as at the closing event of the Anniversary, foreseen on 6-8 November in Kyoto, Japan.

Challenges and future perspectives

Despite the inherent link between World Heritage conservation and sustainable development, there is general agreement that the great potential of World Heritage is still not sufficiently harnessed for contributing to socio-economic development and, particularly in developing regions.

It is also fair to say that, beyond statements of principle, the current Operational Guidelines and other existing policy texts do not provide sufficient practical orientation to assist those in charge of World Heritage properties to fully integrate a sustainable development perspective in the implementation of the Convention. Throughout its key processes (i.e. nomination, evaluation, monitoring, international assistance), the Convention continues to focus primarily on maintaining the heritage value of World Heritage properties (i.e. its Outstanding Universal Value), without necessarily considering the possible implications in respect of their wider social, economic and environmental context, except when these implications engender a risk for the heritage.

On the other hand, the experience gathered in the daily implementation of the World Heritage Convention (notably in state-of-conservation reporting) shows that conflicts between conservation and development objectives are very common, including with proposed developments that, in principle, would appear to strengthen sustainability (e.g. wind-farms, adaptive re-use of historic buildings for commercial use, etc.). Conversely, a number of opportunities for promoting sustainable development through the conservation of World Heritage properties, for example through the promotion of local employment  or a stronger inclusion of communities in local decision-making processes, may exist at certain sites, but are not currently exploited since this is not explicitly required by the policies of the Convention.

There is considerable potential for integrating sustainable development into the policies and processes of the World Heritage Convention, recognized by the World Heritage Committee at its 34^th session in Brasilia in 2010, and by building on the results of other events such as the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) should both ensure that the potential of World Heritage to contribute to sustainable develop is fully harnessed, and that World Heritage conservation strategies are in line with sustainable development goals.

To make the most of the relationship between heritage and sustainable development, the World Heritage community should consider that there is a need for further studies and research to better understand the dynamic relation between heritage conservation and the various dimensions of sustainable development.

Also, there are inextricable links between the natural and cultural, tangible and intangible dimensions of heritage as well as the continuum between heritage and creativity, which suggests that ways to bring together more closely the three related UNESCO Conventions (1972, 2003 and 2005) should be explored.  

The realization that sustainable development is a goal that, almost by definition, acquires its meaning at a scale which is often much larger than that of a WH property, suggesting that World Heritage planning and management needs to be more integrated in territorial and regional strategies.

Sustainable development, almost by definition, is on a scale that goes well beyond the scope of a World Heritage site, so that management and planning needs must be more integrated in territorial and regional strategies – and so the results and repercussions of these actions reflect upon our larger communities and eventually our global community as a whole.

Strengthening the Interdisciplinary Climate Change Knowledge Base

Strengthening the Interdisciplinary Climate Change Knowledge Base

© UNESCO/ Foy, J.
Boat-laboratory (Port Louis, Mauritius)

UNESCO promotes the continuous strengthening of the interdisciplinary climate change knowledge base, primarily involving the sound and unbiased generation and use of data, information and research concerning climate change (climate science) assessment, monitoring and early warning of relevance to climate change mitigation and adaptation. This is being integrated with UNESCO capacities in natural and social sciences, culture, education and communication to improve the resilience of Member States to climate change through national and local climate mitigation, adaptation and risk management policies based on science, local and indigenous knowledge, and ecological and sociocultural systems.

©NOPD/I.Magana
Floods in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, September 2005

Policies that do not take account of the social drivers and impacts of climate change are unlikely to succeed in protecting the interests of the most vulnerable. Based on the Management of Social Transformations (MOST) and Environmental Ethics programmes, in cooperation with partners including the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and the International Council for Science (ICSU), this flagship activity will improve understanding of the social dimensions, including gender equality issues related to climate change, and develop and implement a

policy-relevant, action-oriented research programme focusing in particular on the design and implementation of appropriate climate change adaptation actions.

Collaboration among the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme and MOST will be promoted on cross-cutting issues of water, energy and biosphere management contributing to Member State’s efforts globally to address climate change. This work will feed into the work and delivery of the UN inter-agency Task Team on the Social Dimensions of Climate Change, in which UNESCO is an active member, as well as into the deliberations of UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to enhance and lead UN-wide collaboration on the climate knowledge base and the Global Framework for Climate Services

Who We Help

Millions of Vulnerable People Around the World

UNHCR's primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. To this end, we strive to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another country, and to return home voluntarily. By helping refugees go back home or to settle in another country, UNHCR also seeks lasting solutions to their plight. UNHCR also has a mandate to prevent and reduce statelessness and protect stateless persons. In support of its core activities on behalf of refugees, UNHCR's Executive Committee and the UN General Assembly have authorized involvement with other groups. These include former refugees who have returned home and internally displaced people.

UNHCR seeks to reduce situations of forced displacement by encouraging states and other institutions to create conditions which are conducive to the protection of human rights and the peaceful resolution of disputes. In all of its activities, the refugee agency pays particular attention to the needs of children and seeks to promote the equal rights of women and girls.

World Refugee Day

2000년 12월 4일 유엔총회가 아프리카통일기구와 논의하여 6월 20일을 공식적인 세계 난민의 날(World Refugee Day)로 지정하는 결의문 (A/RES/55/76) 을 만장일치로 채택하였습니다.
이 결정은 난민이 가장 많을 뿐만 아니라, 난민에게 매우 큰 아량을 보여주고 있는 아프리카 대륙과의 연대 의식을 나타내려는 노력의 성과였습니다.

세계 난민의 날은 난민협약의 의미와 가치를 재확인하고, 난민보호라는 국제 사회의 책임을 전세계가 공유하는 날입니다. 또한 세계 난민의 날 행사를 통하여 난민의 어려움과 난민 문제에 대한 전반적인 관심을 불러일으키고자 유엔난민기구와 여러 비정부기구들의 활동을 알리는 날이기도 합니다.

난민의 날 또는 난민 주간은 이미 오래 전부터 여러 나라에서 기념해 왔습니다. 오스트리아, 불가리아, 체코공화국, 슬로바키아, 슬로베니아 등 유럽 국가에서는 유럽난민네트워크와 인권단체(UNITED)가 기념하는 국제 난민의 날 (International Refugee Day) 행사를 매년 6월 16일에 치르고 있으며, 에티오피아, 케냐, 모잠비크, 수단, 탄자니아, 우간다, 잠비아와 같은 아프리카 국가들은 1974년 발효된 아프리카통일기구(OAU) 난민협약의 기념일인 6월 20일을 아프리카 난민의 날로 지정하여 기념해 왔습니다.

첫 세계 난민의 날을 맞았던 2001년은 난민협약 채택(1951년 7월 28일) 50주년을 기념하는 해였습니다. 제1회 난민의 날에는 1951년 난민협약의 존중, 난민에 대한 존중과 그 존중의 강화라는 주제 아래 다양한 행사가 세계 각지에서 펼쳐졌습니다.

유엔난민기구는 매년 세계 난민의 날에 다양한 주제로 난민보호라는 기구 본연의 사명을 다시 다짐하며, 난민들 및 여러 파트너들과 함께 각종 행사를 통해 전 세계 지구촌 이웃들의 난민들이 처한 어려움에 대한 이해와 공감을 돕고, 문제 해결을 위한 관심과 행동을 촉구하고 있습니다.

Nobel Media

Educational Outreach Program

Nobelprize.org has a unique way of introducing the Nobel Prize that goes beyond the mere presentation of facts. These introductions, aptly called 'educational', are made in the form of games, experiments, and simulated environments ready to be explored and discovered. The productions are aimed at the young, particularly the 14-18 age groups, who may know about the Nobel Prizes and the Nobel Laureates, but often lack a deeper understanding about the Nobel Prize-awarded works.

These educational productions do not require previous knowledge. A central thought or issue is explored during 10-20 minutes of activity, using a specific Nobel Prize-awarded work as a springboard for the whole exercise.

The productions offer an excellent way of using the Internet for homework, or just plain, wholesome entertainment. The high level of interactivity and the sophisticated illustrations ensure an enriching time spent in front of the computer.