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

Publication time:2017-07-09

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.

世界遗产大会是联合国教科文组织世界遗产委员会的例会，每年召开一次，首届大会1977年在法国巴黎举行。大会的主要职责是审核、批准新申报项目入选世界遗产名录，并对已列入名录的世界遗产的保护工作进行监督指导。

2017年7月1日-8日，HIST常务副主任兼秘书长洪天华率团前往波兰克拉科夫，参加第41届联合国教科文组织世界遗产大会。

开幕式在克拉科夫瓦维尔皇家城堡举办。城堡在中世纪梅什科一世时期曾是波兰第一位执政者的行宫。联合国教科文组织(UNESCO)总干事Irina Bokova、波兰总统Andrzej Duda、波兰副首相Piotr Gliński、UNESCO执行局主席Michael Worbs等要客在开幕式致辞。

大会在克拉科夫国际会议中心召开，大会主席由波兰UNESCO全委会主席、波兰国际文化中心主任Jacek Purchla担任。会议首先审议了UNESCO世界遗产中心及其三大专业咨询机构——国际自然保护联盟（IUCN）、国际古迹遗址理事会（ICOMOS）、国际文化财产保护与修复研究中心（ICCROM）的年度工作报告；接着审议了存有问题的世界遗产保护状况和濒危世界遗产保护改进情况；最后审议各国新提名的世界遗产。今年被提名加入世界遗产名录的共有34个项目，其中7个为自然遗产， 26个为文化遗产，1个为自然与文化双遗产。中国青海省可可西里和福建省鼓浪屿有望列入世界遗产名录。

7月4日，HIST与欧空局哥白尼计划、德国海德堡大学世界遗产教席等共同主办了“从空中保护UNESCO名录遗产”边会。会议由N.Ishwaran主持，世界遗产中心主任Mechtild Rossler女士参加会议并致辞，她高度赞许了空间技术在世界遗产的保护监测等方面发挥的独特作用，并对HIST承担的所罗门濒危世界遗产地监测项目给予充分肯定；随后，洪天华介绍了HIST过去几年在世界遗产领域所开展的国际项目和国际活动，并提出了未来合作的建议；欧空局代表Dr.HendrikR.Stark介绍了Sentinel卫星的特点及与国际社会开展的合作；海德堡大学Dr. Nils Wolf介绍了应用空间技术开展对世界名录遗产的监测与保护工作。会议结束时，参会代表与HIST代表进行了充分交流，表达了与HIST开展实质合作的愿望。

此外，在审议濒危世界遗产保护工作进展报告时，HIST独立完成的索罗门群岛-东轮内尔岛濒危世界遗产监测项目得到了联合国教科文组织世界遗产中心的充分肯定。

会议期间，洪天华等与参会的各有关国家代表、专家进行了广泛交流，为HIST未来拟开展的国际合作奠定了良好的基础。

HIST副主任王长林、特聘外籍专家N.Ishwaran、HIST哈尔滨分中心和HIST衡阳分中心代表等参加了会议。

世界遗产大会是联合国教科文组织世界遗产委员会的例会，每年召开一次，首届大会1977年在法国巴黎举行。大会的主要职责是审核、批准新申报项目入选世界遗产名录，并对已列入名录的世界遗产的保护工作进行监督指导。