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XIth World Congress of the OWHC - Sintra 2011: World Heritage Cities and Climate Change

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XIth World Congress of the OWHC - Sintra 2011: World Heritage Cities and Climate Change

The World Congress of the OWHC is a unique forum - held every two years, it brings together politicians and professionals who are committed to the preservation of historic cities, particularly those inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Since the first meeting in 1991, this event has enabled participants to discuss topics of common interest, to share experiences, and to learn about new strategies for meeting the challenges associated with the conservation and management of World Heritage Cities. 

The theme of the XIth World Congress is World Heritage Cities and Climate Change.

World Heritage Cities are vibrant living environments with cultural heritage of outstanding universal value. In the face of climate change, however, World Heritage Cities are among the most vulnerable places on Earth to experience rapidly occurring changes.The site-specific nature of climate change impacts make World Heritage Cities ideal laboratories for monitoring changes and testing adaptation and mitigation measures to enhance their socio-economic well-being while ensuring the conservation of their heritage. 

SintraCity governments are at the heart of the action. Having conserved their rich heritage over time, World Heritage Cities hold the keys to understanding long-term evolution of a place from the past and on to the future.As guardians of the world’s heritage, World Heritage Cities face an additional challenge - any action taken at these iconic places can attract considerable attention and influence the adoption of good management practices elsewhere. This XIthWorld Congress aims to create a platform for dialogue and exchange of state-of-the-art knowledge on the issue of World Heritage Cities and Climate Change and its transfer into policy and action.

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The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC)

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The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC)

The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) was founded on September 8, 1993 in Fez, Morocco. The Organization is composed of 238 cities in which are located sites included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. These 238 World Heritage Cities have a combined population of over 130 million. Within the Organization, these cities are represented by their Mayors with the active participation of their heritage management specialists.

The OWHC's headquarters are located in Québec City, which hosted the First International Symposium of World Heritage Cities in July 1991.

The primary objectives of the Organization are to favor the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, to encourage co-operation and the exchange of information and expertise on matters of conservation and management as well as to develop a sense of solidarity among its member cities. To this end, the OWHC organizes World Congresses, conferences, seminars and workshops dealing with the challenges to be met in the realm of management and strategies pertaining to the preservation and development of historic cities.

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UNESCO World Heritage List

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UNESCO World Heritage List

The World Heritage List includes 936 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.These include 725 cultural , 183 natural and 28 mixed properties in 153 States Parties. As of June 2010, 187 States Parties have ratified the World Heritage Convention

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Andorra

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bolivia (Plurinational State of)

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Chile

China

Colombia

Costa Rica

Côte d'Ivoire

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Denmark

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Estonia

Ethiopia

Finland

France

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Guatemala

Guinea

Haiti

Holy See

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Jerusalem (Site proposed by Jordan)

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kiribati

Korea, Democratic People's Republic of

Korea, Republic of

Kyrgyzstan

Lao People's Democratic Republic

Latvia

Lebanon

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mexico

Moldova, Republic of

Mongolia

Montenegro

Morocco

Mozambique

Namibia

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russian Federation

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

San Marino

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles

Slovakia

Slovenia

Solomon Islands

South Africa

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Suriname

Sweden

Switzerland

Syrian Arab Republic

Tajikistan

Tanzania, United Republic of

Thailand

the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Togo

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

United States of America

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Vanuatu

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Viet Nam

Yemen

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Notes

  1. Extension of the "Australian East Coast Temperate and Subtropical Rainforest Park".

    name changed 2007 from 'Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves (Australia)'

  2. Renomination of "Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park" under cultural criteria.

  3. The “Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia” which were previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, are part of the transnational property “The Belfries of Belgium and France”.

  4. Extension of "Jaú National Park".

  5. Extension of the "Glacier Bay/Wrangell/St Elias/Kluane" property.

  6. The "Burgess Shale" property, which was previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, is part of the "Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks".

  7. Extension of "The Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple Monastery, Lhasa" to include the Norbulingka area.

  8. The “Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia” which were previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, are part of the transnational property “The Belfries of Belgium and France”.

  9. The "Chateau and Estate of Chambord", which was previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, is part of the "Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes".

  10. The “Hadrian’s Wall” which was previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, is part of the transnational property “Frontiers of the Roman Empire”.

  11. At the time the property was extended, cultural criterion (iv) was also found applicable.

  12. The "Brihadisvara Temple, Tanjavur", which was previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, is part of the "Great Living Chola Temples".

  13. At the time the property was extended, cultural criterion (iv) was also found applicable.

  14. At the time the property was extended, criteria (iii) and (v) were also found applicable.

  15. The Committee decided to extend the existing cultural property, the "Temple of Ggantija", to include the five prehistoric temples situated on the islands of Malta and Gozo and to rename the property as "The Megalithic Temples of Malta".

  16. The Westland and Mount Cook National Park and the Fiordland National Park, which were previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, are part of the "Te Wahipounamu - South West New Zealand".

  17. The "Convent Ensemble of San Francisco de Lima", which was previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, is part of the "Historic Centre of Lima".

  18. (extension de « Sites d'art rupestre préhistorique de la vallée de Côa », Portugal)

  19. Extension of "Biertan and its Fortified Church".

  20. At the time the property was extended, natural criterion (iv) was also found applicable.

  21. Extension of the "Alhambra and the Generalife, Granada", to include the Albayzin quarter.

  22. Extension of the "Mosque of Cordoba".

  23. The property “Parque Güell, Palacio Güell and Casa Mila in Barcelona”, previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, is part of the “Works of Antoni Gaudí”.

  24. Extension of the "Churches of the Kingdom of the Asturias", to include monuments in the city of Oviedo.

  25. Extension of the "Mudejar Architecture of Teruel".

  26. (extension de « Sites d'art rupestre préhistorique de la vallée de Côa », Portugal)

  27. The WH area is managed directly by the Divisional Forest Officer from the Forest Dept. A national steering Committee co-ordinates institutions for Sinharaja as a National Wilderness Area, Biosphere Reserve (1988), and WH site. There are two management plans, prepared in 1985/86 and 1992/94, which emphasise conservation, scientific research, buffer zone management, benefit-sharing, and community participation.

  28. (renomination under cultural criteria)

  29. In 1979, the Committee decided to inscribe the Ohrid Lake on the World Heritage List under natural criteria (iii). In 1980, this property was extended to include the cultural and historical area, and cultural criteria (i)(iii)(iv) were added.

  30. The “Hadrian’s Wall” which was previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, is part of the transnational property “Frontiers of the Roman Empire”.

  31. Extension of "Gough Island Wildlife Reserve".

  32. Extension of the "Glacier Bay/Wrangell/St Elias/Kluane" property.

*: transboundary property

#: As for 19 Natural and Mixed Properties inscribed for geological values before 1994, criteria numbering of this property has changed. See Decision 30.COM 8D.1

 

UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger

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Egypt