Reflecting on World Heritage, 23 January 2014

On the day that the BBC published this piece by Simon Armstrong asking whether the Lake District’s World Heritage status bid was worth the effort, I attended a thought-provoking talk by Susan Denyer, Secretary of ICOMOs UK, at UCL’s Centre for Sustainable Heritage.

Susan, who used to work for the National Trust in the Lake District, shared her thoughts on the complexity and resilience of World Heritage landscapes. Even World Heritage Sites are dynamic and evolving structures but there is always a point at which change can no longer be absorbed and a fine line between resilience and complete catastrophe. How do we strengthen resilience? How can we help communities define the limits of change – what they can accept and where they would draw the line? Some of Susan’s examples showed huge – and not always positive – change since inscription on the World Heritage List. In the Val d’Orcia in Italy, perhaps the most similar to the Lake District, rich outsiders were buying up the attractive farms and changing the character of this cultural landscape. Several World Heritage Sites were having to manage increased visiting since inscription and needed structures to strengthen and support their resilience. I found it striking how much the World Heritage Convention relies on the compliance of the States Parties. We can exert international pressure, but it is ultimately up to the national government to decide how it manages its heritage of outstanding universal value. And do they nominate sites because of genuine OUV or for more economic reasons? Many countries see World Heritage status as a catalyst for action, finding reassurance in the structure to justify finanical investments.

NT apprentice joiner, Callum McAffrey, with Chinese colleagues in Tongli, near Shanghai

This was all particularly interesting as the previous day, I had received an email from Matthew Hu, formerly with INTO member organisation, the Beijing Cultural Heritage Centre and now heading the Prince’s Charities Foundation in China. He was keen to connect with ICOMOS for some advice on the proposed high speed train project near the Great Wall at Badaling. I dragged Matthew along to the talk and it was interesting to get his perspective. Obviously, this battle needs to be fought in Beijing, with the State Administration and the ICOMOS team there. I introduced Matthew to Lord Donald Hankey, former President of ICOMOS UK who has worked extensively in China, and it was great to chat over dinner about China, heritage and the restoration work at Shijia Hutong. The PCF’s next project is around traditional skills and we’re looking forward to seeing how INTO might engage with this important work.