“Preserving the UNESCO Designated Places from Space” side event during 41st session of the World Heritage Committee

09 Jul, 2017

HIST delegation, led by Mr. HONG Tianhua, Executive Deputy Director attended the 41stsession of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Krakow, Poland from 1 -8 July 2017. The opening ceremony took place on 2 July at the Royal Palace of Wawel in Krakow, Poland, in the presence of nearly 1,000 people, including the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, and other leading personalities. The Committee was in session until 12 July.

The Committee examined the working reports from the three advisory bodies IUCN, ICOMOS, ICCROM and examined conservation status of the properties being inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, to develop appropriate information material with a view to overcome the negative perceptions of the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Committee also made decisions on the inscription on the World Heritage List of 33 nominated sites, which included six natural sites, 26 cultural and one that was proposed both as a natural and cultural site. Both Qinghai Hoh Xil and Kulangsu located in China were inscribed on the World Heritage List.

HIST co-organized a side event with Heidelberg University (UNESCO Chair), the Copernicus Programme of European Space Agency (ESA) themed“Preserving The UNESCODesignated Places From Space”on 4 July, 2017.

The event was moderated by Prof .N Ishwaran. The welcome address was given by Dr. Mechtild Rössler, Director of the World Heritage Centre, she highly praised the unique role of space technologies in the conservation and monitoring for world heritage sites and applauded the monitoring project undertaken by HIST on the World Heritage site in danger in the Solomon's islands. Prof. Hong presented the report on HIST’s international activities and projects in the recent years, and proposed the suggestions for collaboration in the near future. Dr. Hendrik R. Stark from ESA made a presentation on the Copernicus Programme, and introduced the new application of satellite Sentinel-5. Heidelberg University, UNESCO Chair on World Heritage and Biosphere Reserve Observation and Education presented more in detail about the Programme for satellite monitoring of World Heritage sites. During the discussion, HIST delegation carried out in depth discussions with the international attendees. Participants were interested in the work undertaken by HIST, and most of them wished to collaborate with HIST.

During the committee, HIST delegation had several meetings with different international participants, which will widen the range of HIST’s international network. The delegation also included HIST deputy director Wang Changlin, Visiting professor N.Ishwaran, and the representatives from Harbin & Hengyang Base.

The World Heritage Committee meets once a year, and consists of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the Convention elected by their General Assembly. At its first session, the Committee adopted its Rules of Procedure of the World Heritage Committee.

The Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties. It has the final say on whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List. It examines reports on the state of conservation of inscribed properties and asks States Parties to take action when properties are not being properly managed. It also decides on the inscription or deletion of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger.