građevinsko – arhitektonski fakultet u nišu nauka + praksa 12.

1 / 2009

International Documentation on World Heritage Protection – A Review

Dejana Nedučin ¹

Rezime
Potreba za zaštitom i očuvanjem kulturno-istorijskog i prirodnog nasleđa bila je prepoznata i u ranijim
periodima ljudske istorije, ali se tek u 20. veku na međunarodnom nivou stvorio pokret za zaštitu i
očuvanje svetskog fonda nasleđa, koji je jasno definisao zakonske okvire.
Rad predstavlja pregled savremene teorije zaštite zasnovan na kritičkoj oceni širokog spektra vrednosti
definisanih nizom međunarodnih konvencija, odluka i preporuka koje doprinose razvoju opšte svesti o
značaju naše zajedničke baštine.
Ključne reči: kulturno-istorijsko nasleđe, prirodno nasleđe, međunarodni dokumenti, Konvencija o zaštiti
svetske kulturne i prirodne baštine

Abstract
The need for conservation and preservation of cultural and natural monuments and sites was recognized
even in the early times of human history, but the development of philosophies has changed over time,
contributing to an international movement for world heritage protection and conservation during the 20th
century that provided adequate legal framework.
The paper presents a review of the modern conservation theory based on a critical evaluation of wide
range of values, as reflected in various international conventions, resolutions and recommendation which
proclaim the “universal value” of the world heritage.
Keywords: cultural heritage, natural heritage, international documents, World Heritage Convention

1. INTRODUCTION 2. HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL

The concept of “universal value” of the world
heritage which was gradually developing during the
19th century was eventually to reach a formal
expression on international level. The recognition of
its versatile values and its cumulative contribution to
understanding of mankind development are the result
of an international approach that was developed
during the 20th century.
A review of the main international documents and
institutions in the field of world heritage treatment
provides a reliable source for understanding of
genesis of interdisciplinary approach to preservation
and conservation theory on local, national and
international level.
1 Dejana Nedučin, dip.ing.arh.-master, asistent, Fakultet tehničkih nauka, Univerzitet u Novom Sadu
APPROACH
2.1. JOINT INITIATIVE
During the 19th century, a lot of questions have
been raised regarding the history of art and
architecture and different methods for preserving our
cultural heritage. The 6th International Congress of
Architects of 1904 in Madrid gave a brief draft of
recommendations concerning preservation and
restoration of architectural monuments. This
document divided monuments into two groups: “dead
monuments, i.e. those belonging to a past civilization
or serving obsolete purposes, and living monuments,
i.e. those which continue to serve the purposes for
which they were originally intended” [1]. The
recommendations also included the principle of unity
of style – restoration according to a single stylistic

143
građevinsko – arhitektonski fakultet u nišu
expression [2]. It also emphasized the importance of
finding an adequate functional use for historic
building, rather than preserving it as a monument.
The 1st World War brought about the waste
deterioration of many cultural monuments. This
stimulated the idea for creating an international
movement for protecting cultural heritage. The
Intellectual Cooperation Committee was founded in
1922 within the League of Nations (Geneva, 1919)
and four years later was transformed to the
International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation
(IIIC), with the headquarters in Paris. In 1926, the IIC
established the International Museums Office (IMO) in
Paris, with the aim to promote and organize joint work
and research on international level.
2.2. ATHENS CHARTER
The IIC initiated the Athens Conference of 1931 on
the protection and conservation of cultural and
historical monuments. Its resolutions were published
as the Athens Charter for the Restoration of Historic
Monuments (often referred to as the Athens Charter).
This was the first truly international document
accepted at an intergovernmental level that dealt with
general principles and doctrines related to protection,
conservation and restoration.
The general tendency of the Charter was to avoid
restoration and to favor conservation of the
authenticity of historic monuments where possible.
This document also gave a new concept of
conservation by abandoning stylistic restoration which
was among recommendations of the Congress in
Madrid. It also advised strengthening international
cooperation in technical matters, as well as forming an
international centre that would gather the
documentation on cultural heritage all over the world.
This marked the beginning of international attempts to
create general guidelines and recommendations for the
preservation of cultural heritage. The next step was
establishment of the International Commission on
Historic Monuments that would be in charge of
conservation education, legal and technical issues and
documentation on preservation.
The Athens Charter is often mistaken with the
conclusion of the 4th International Congress for
Modern Architects (CIAM) held in 1933 in Athens,
that shares the same name. Later edited by Le
Corbusier, this document was focused on the
principles of modern urban planning, even though it
had some recommendations on interventions within
old urban fabric. The section concerning historic
towns emphasized the importance of preservation their
144
nauka + praksa 12.1 / 2009
historic values and forbade any modern construction
in style.
2.3. UNESCO, VENICE CHARTER AND
ICOMOS
Formation of the United Nations (San Francisco,
1945) brought necessary organizational changes to the
principles of heritage protection and conservation.
This led to creation of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -
UNESCO (London, 1945) as an international
institution that would, among other aims, continue
IIC’s mission. These initial activities resulted in
foundation of other three international organizations
with specific aims: International Council of Museums
(ICOM, 1946), World Conservation Union (1948,
changed its name to the International Union for
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, IUCN
in 1956) and International Conservation Center for
Restoration of Monuments (ICCROM, 1959).
The most important event of that time was the 2nd
International Congress of Architects and Technicians
of Historic Monuments (Venice, 1964). The
resolutions included the International Charter for the
Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites
– the Venice Charter, which became a fundamental
international document on conservation and
restoration theory. Its emphasis was on the necessity
to respect the authenticity of the historic monuments
and to keep them in appropriate use: “The intention in
conserving and restoring monuments is to safeguard
them no less as works of art than as historical
evidence” [3].
The Venice Charter is considered as the first
document that connected the historic monument to its
surrounding. In the Article 7, the concern was also
given to the protection of the setting, as the monument
is considered “inseparable from the history to which it
bears witness and from the setting in which it occurs“
[4]. Since the Charter did not apply to urban heritage,
the Congress gave a draft on the Protection and
Rehabilitation of Historic Centers.
Although based on the principles of the Athens
Charter, the Venice Charter provided necessary
contemporary updates. One of the resolutions
proposed the creation of an organization that would
coordinate international effort for the preservation and
appreciation of world heritage. In 1965, UNESCO
established the International Council on Monuments
and Sites (ICOMOS), which has taken the Venice
Charter as its ethical guideline.
građevinsko – arhitektonski fakultet u nišu
3. WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION
Along with the ongoing activities regarding
protection of cultural heritage, noticeable was a
growing interest in protection of natural heritage. The
UN Conference on Human Environment (Stockholm,
1972) stressed the importance of establishing an
equitable equilibrium between culture and nature and
creating a basis for a collective international effort in
protecting that uniqueness of historic, cultural and
natural evidences of our existence under one name –
the world heritage.
Taking these recommendations into account, the
General Conference of UNESCO adopted the
Convention Concerning the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage (often referred to as the
World Heritage Convention) at the 1972 Paris session.
It was ratified and entered into force in 1975.
UNESCO also defined what was to be considered as
the world heritage: “Heritage is our legacy from the
past, what we live with today and what we pass on to
future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage
are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration.
World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the
world, irrespective of the territory on which they are
located.” [5]
The Convention is a unique document that links
and preserves the balance between the concept of
nature conservation and preservation of cultural
properties. It defines the categories of heritage to be
protected and regulations for identification and
inscription of all cultural and natural monuments and
sites of outstanding universal value on the World
Heritage List, as well as the commitments of adhered
countries regarding protection and preservation of
their national heritage. This document represents the
principal international conservation tool based on a
proactive approach, with 95% of UNESCO members
accepting its essential philosophy The Convention also
informs on conditions which threaten the sites
inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The Convention gave a very clear explanation of
what is to be considered as cultural and natural
heritage [6]. Although it did not provide an explicit
definition of the term “universal value”, the
Operational Guidelines for its implementation gave
criteria for identification of outstanding characteristics
that nominated sites need to fulfill.
4. ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS AND
CURRENT CHALENGES
nauka + praksa 12.1 / 2009
Analyses of the achievements of the World
Heritage Convention’s general principles stipulated
the ratification of additional documents. The
imbalance in identification of potential world heritage
sites in favor of the ones of architectural and artistic
value was very clear [7]. The proof that also indicated
relatively narrow interpretation of heritage diversity
was the fact that more than a half of the inscribed sites
were located in Europe and North America. A number
of potential world heritage sites located in other parts
of the world, especially Asia and Africa, owe their
universal value not just to architectural or artistic
aspects, but also to unique natural features which over
time generated certain religious and symbolic
meanings and associations as well.
4.1. DOCOMOMO
It was also evident that the emphasis of the
Convention was on the protection and conservation of
traditional and ancient monuments and sites [8]. The
heritage of modern times, especially the buildings
erected after the 2nd World War, was unrecognized and
almost neglected. Some experts even noted that the
traditional buildings of earth, brick, stone and timber
acquired their historic value more by survival than by
style. On the other hand, modern heritage could
acquire the same through its style and innovations [9].
For this reason, the International Working Party for
Documentation and Conservation of Building, Sites
and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement
(DOCOMOMO) was founded in 1988.
4.2. GLOBAL STRATEGY AND NARA
DOCUMENT
During its Santa Fe Session in 1992, the
Committee recognized the category of cultural
landscapes of outstanding universal value.
Furthermore, due to the need to fill thematic and
geographical gaps previously identified, in 1994, the
Committee adopted the Global Strategy for a
Balanced, Representative and Credible World
Heritage List for cultural heritage. At the Phuket
session, this Strategy was extended to natural
heritage as well.
In the same year, the Committee ratified the Nara
Document that suggested a new set of criteria for
defining authenticity and integrity of the heritage. In
addition to four previously identified evaluation
attributes (design, materials, construction and
setting), this document stated that authenticity and
145
građevinsko – arhitektonski fakultet u nišu nauka + praksa 12.1 / 2009

integrity should be valued upon the cultural context
to which the monument and site belong. The outcome
was wider interpretation of criteria for authenticity in
theory, while in practice, certain number of non-
European sites that formerly did not fulfill the
requirements became recognized.
4.3. BUDAPEST DECLARATION AND
OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES
The document that brought together the results of
three decades of the Convention implementation was
the Budapest Declaration on World Heritage of 1992.
It reviewed the original strategic objectives and
summarized them in four goals, known as the “4Cs”.
Very important changes to the criteria for
inscription on the List were made by the Committee in
2003. The decision was to unify previously separate
groups of natural and cultural decisive factors for the
assessment of potential world heritage sites. The
Operational Guidelines of 2005 defined ten universal
criteria, with the aim encourage nominations of the
sites with inseparable link between natural and
cultural values. As a supplement to this document, in
2003 the ICOMOS prescribed the codes of practice in
the ICOMOS Charter - Principles for the Analysis,
Conservation and Structural Restoration of
Architectural Heritage, which explained the need for
interdisciplinary approach to conservation and
restoration of architectural monuments.
4.4. URBAN HERITAGE
Special field of interest was preservation of urban
heritage. The World Heritage Cities Programme
adopted by the Committee in 2001, gave a framework
for modernization of historic urban landscapes without
compromising their authentic character. The outcome
of the 29th Committee Session in 2005 was the Vienna
Memorandum on World Heritage and Contemporary
Architecture – Managing the Historic Urban
Landscapes. This document stressed that the challenge
of contemporary architecture in historic cities is to
adequately coordinate socio-economic growth and
inherited townscape. It also recommended that every
intervention in urban landscapes should respect the
specific tradition of historic fabric.
5. CONCLUSION
The concept of “outstanding universal value” of
the world heritage distinguishes itself through
specific characteristics of culture and environment in
which it was created, a thin and continuous line in
time and space of cultural and natural context of the
mankind development. Drawing that line that
sometimes seems indistinct and broken is an overall
goal and strategy of different international partners
joint in a big network of diversified professions,
united in the effort to safeguard our cultural and
natural heritage.
The World Heritage Convention and numerous
other international declarations adopted during the
20th century did not only provide regulations and
recommendations on managing the world heritage,
but they also pointed out its real significance - as an
universal legacy on interaction between man and
nature through history that provides a solid starting
point for future learning about our past. World
heritage is a collective property of humanity and in
order to be preserved for future generations, it has to
be understood as a common responsibility.

REFERENCES

[1] Jokilehto, J. (1986) A History of Architectural Conservation. York: University of York, pp.404-405
[2] Demas, M. (2003) Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute, p.9
[3] ICOMOS (1964) The Monument for the Man – Records of the 2nd International Congress of Restoration, Decisions and
Resolutions, Article 3. Venice
[4] Ibid, endnote 3, Article 7
[5] UNESCO - World Heritage Centre on World Heritage (http://whc.unesco.org/en/about)
[6] UNESCO (1972) Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Articles 1, 2. Paris
[7] Pressouyre, L. (1996) The World Heritage Convention - Twenty Years Later, Paris: UNESCO Publishing, pp.42-50
[8] Labadi, S. (2005) A Review of the Global Strategy for Balanced, Representative and Credible World Heritage List 1994 –
2004. Conservation and Mangement of Archaeological Sites, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.24-28
[9] Feilden, B.M. (2003) Conservation of Historic Buildings. Oxford: Architectural Press - Elsevier Ltd, p.327

146