UNESCO World Heritage Sites

My Dream Assignment is to visit a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites throughout the world and share their importance and beauty with those who may not have the opportunity, nor the means, to experience them on their own.

In short, my Dream Assignment is to travel to a number of the UNESCO Endangered World Heritage Sites around the world, photograph them and eventually publish a book communicating the sheer beauty and raw power that our world contains.

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded in 1945 and “promotes international co-operation among its 193 Member States across the world and six Associate Members in the fields of education, science, culture and communication. UNESCO works to create the conditions for genuine dialogue based upon respect for shared values and the dignity of each civilization and culture.”

“The World Heritage Site program catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity.” As of 2008, 878 sites are listed: 678 cultural, 174 natural, and 26 mixed properties, in 145 states. Each World Heritage Site is the property of the state on whose territory the site is located, however it is considered in the interest of the international community to preserve each site.

A list of the current UNESCO World Heritage Sites can be found at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list

The United States initiated the idea of combining cultural conservation with nature conservation. A White House conference in 1965 called for a World Heritage Trust to preserve "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry." The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1972.

The cultural and natural criteria for selection as a World Heritage Site are as follows:

Cultural criteria:
•“To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius.”
•“To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design.”
•“To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared.”
•“To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble of landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.”
•“To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment, especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.”
•“To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.

Natural criteria:
•“To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.”
•“To be outstanding examples representing major stages of Earth’s history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features.”
•“To be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals.”
•“To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-site conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.”

Japan’s Yakushima Island, Israel’s Incense Route of the Negev, The Philippines’ Tubbattaha Reef Marine Park, and the Glaciers of Argentina’s Patagonia – these are merely a speck on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites which are on my list of places to visit.

It is my Dream Assignment to visit a number of World Heritage Sites throughout the world and share their importance with those who may not have the opportunity, nor the means, to visit them for themselves. Due to the overwhelming number of Heritage Sites, it is not possible to visit them all. However, a detailed list of prime destinations can and will be made following my Dream Assignment’s selection in this contest. The destinations chosen will follow a predetermined cultural and natural theme in order for the project’s results to remain coherent.

Thank you for your support and consideration.

References:

1.The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: http://whc.unesco.org/
2.The World Heritage Committee: http://whc.unesco.org/en/comittee/
3.Selection Criteria: http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/
4.Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention: http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=57

Rank: 57 | /the-ideas/FourT6and2/unesco-world-heritage-sites/ Report Abuse