Terms of Reference - ICCROM Award Committee

1. BACKGROUND

The ICCROM Award was created to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the ICCROM foundation and was presented for the first time in 1979, and thereafter regularly at the General Assembly of ICCROM held every two years.
The ICCROM Award Committee was created as a follow-up of the Council’s decision in November 2007, in order to generate more involvement and participation in the ICCROM Award nomination process.

2. OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of the ICCROM Award Committee are to:
- Oversee the nomination and selection processes for the ICCROM Award candidates.
- Validate the nominations prior to the election by the Council members and the Director-General.
- Recommend to ICCROM Council different and innovative types of awards

3. MEMBERSHIP

The Award Committee membership shall consist of at least two current members of the ICCROM Council and one current member of the ICCROM Secretariat staff.
The Executive Assistant of the Director-General is to act as the Secretary of the Awards Committee.
The members of Council are selected by the ICCROM Council on the basis of their knowledge of the history, mandate and activities of ICCROM.
The member of the Secretariat is proposed by the Director-General and approved by the Council.
Following her or his election by the committee members, the Chair of the Committee is appointed by the Chairperson of Council.
The terms of the membership shall be two years, starting with the nomination of members at the first Council meeting after the General Assembly, and concluding just after the Award ceremony at the following General Assembly.
Members can be re-appointed by the Council.

4. ACCOUNTABILITY

The Award Committee is accountable to the ICCROM Council through the Chairperson of the Council.

5. ELIGIBILITY FOR THE AWARD

The Award is presented to

a person who holds special merit in the field of protection, management, conservation, restoration and promotion of cultural heritage and who has contributed to ICCROM’s work.
a person who has contributed to the field of cultural heritage protection, management, conservation and restoration in general on a global scale.
Recipients of the ICCROM Award may include but are not limited to:
- An ICCROM course participant who has done exemplary work in their country or in their field after the experience in an ICCROM activity
- A resource person, trainer, or consultant on ICCROM activities
- A former member of the ICCROM Council who has been very proactive during his tenure;
- A former member of the ICCROM Secretariat
Present members of ICCROM staff and of the ICCROM Council are not eligible for the ICCROM Award. “Present members are considered to be those who have been in position at any time since the previous General Assembly.”
The ICCROM Award can only be awarded once to any one person.

6. NOMINATORS

The following are invited to nominate recipients of the Award:
- Current ICCROM Secretariat Staff
- The General Public
The names of nominator/s must be included in the ICCROM Award Nomination Form.
Nominators must ensure that the nominee is fully informed and in agreement with the nomination before submitting the nomination to ensure personal data protection.
Self-nominations will not be accepted.
Current ICCROM Council members could not nominate

7. PROCESS AND PROCEDURES

Nomination:

The Chairperson of ICCROM Council includes the ICCROM Award in the Agenda of the Council meeting held after the General Assembly. Council, at the recommendation of the Committee, decides whether one ICCROM Award will be given the following General Assembly, or if special circumstances (e.g. a jubilee or other event) call for two Awards to be made.
At least five months before the Council meeting held in the year between General Assemblies, the Chairperson of Council invites members of Council, ICCROM Secretariat Staff and issues a public announcement to submit nominations for the ICCROM Award, and to seek suggestions from ICCROM partners and networks of course teachers and participants.
The nominations are to be submitted to the Award Committee (iccromaward@iccrom.org) using the specific ICCROM Award Nomination Form.
The Secretary of the Award Committee collects and forwards all the nominations to the Award Committee. S/he is responsible to identify incomplete nominations, and assists the Committee, if necessary, in requesting further information to be provided by the nominators. The Secretary is responsible for checking that no earlier recipient of the Award or any current staff and Council members are among the nominees.
The nominations are reviewed and validated by the Award Committee. A selection dossier consisting of a short list of two to a maximum of five eligible candidates, and the related information, is prepared in both English and French.

Election:

The Chair of Council sends a copy of the selection dossier to each of the voting Council members and invites them to cast a vote in advance of the Interim Council meeting. The Director-General is also entitled to vote. In order for their vote to be valid, each of the voting members must cast the same number of votes as there will be Awards; only one vote per nominee may be cast.
The list of nominees is compiled by the Award Committee in the order according to the number of votes received. In the case of one ICCROM Award, the nominee with the highest number of votes will be designated to receive the Award. In the case of two ICCROM Awards, the nominees with the highest and second highest number of votes will be designated to receive the Awards. In the case of an ex aequo result (tied vote), a second voting round is organized with voting for the ex aequo candidates only. If an ex aequo situation remains after the second round, the final decision will be made by the Chairperson of the Council.
The Chairperson of the Awards Committee informs Council members of the full results of the vote at the Interim Council meeting.
The Chairperson of the Council sends a letter informing the designated awardee(s), along with a letter of acceptance for the awardee(s) to sign, indicating in writing the acceptance of the Award. In the case of the Award being declined, the person with the next highest number of votes is offered the Award. Upon acceptance of the Award, the Chairperson of the Council informs Council members of this confirmation in writing.
The Secretary of the Committee requests the nominator/s, who proposed the successful candidate, to send to the Secretariat a laudatio (statement in honor of the candidate).

Presentation:

At the General Assembly, the ICCROM Award is presented to the winner(s) by the Director-General, accompanied by a laudatio read by one of the persons who nominated the winner(s), or by a person appointed by the Director-General.

Manifestation:

The ICCROM Award consists of a small bronze sculpture called “Conservation” by the sculptor Peter Rockwell, accompanied by an official laudatio (text in recognition of merit).

ICCROM SECRETARIAT SUPPORT

The Director-General of ICCROM and the Secretariat will participate actively in the process by seeking suggestions from ICCROM partners and networks of course teachers and participants and ensuring active communication for collecting nominations for the Award.
The Executive Assistant of the Director-General will act as Secretary to the Committee: S/he will ensure a smooth and timely process by:

Preparing all correspondence related to the Award nomination process to be sent by the Chairperson of the Council
Collecting and verifying nominations before they are reviewed by the Committee
Providing factual information, where available, about a potential nominee’s services to ICCROM
Assembling the nominations for review by the Committee
Preparing for the voting by the Council members, in particular the Selection Dossier in the two official languages of ICCROM
Organizing the presentation of the Award at the General Assembly

TIME FRAME FOR 2024-2025

July 2024: Call for nominations for the ICCROM Award
20 August 2024: Deadline for the Secretary of the Award Committee to receive nominations and supporting statements. The Secretary verifies the eligibility of candidates (i.e. not a former recipient, etc.) and determines if some nominations require more documentation, especially regarding contributions to ICCROM. The nominations are forwarded to the Award Committee for review.
15 September 2024: The Award Committee reviews the nominations and creates a short-list of two to a maximum of five candidates and forwards it to the Secretariat for preparation of Council consideration (six weeks).
30 October 2024: The Secretariat prepares the nominations (in English and French) on the short-list, and forwards them to the Council members for voting at the Council Meeting.
6-9 November 2024: Voting at the ICCROM Council Meeting.
15 Dec 2024: The Chairperson of the Council sends a letter informing the elected awardee(s) along with a letter of acceptance for the awardee(s) to sign, indicating in writing the acceptance of the Award.

2025

2 Feb 2025 : Secretariat informs members of Council of the results of the Award selection process. The Secretariat also requests the nominator of the successful candidate to send to the Secretariat by 1 July a laudatio (statement in honor of the candidate).
May 2025: Having the vote been ratified by the April Bureau and followed by the usual steps (informing the Award recipient for acceptance, informing the Council Members, etc.) a note will be placed on ICCROM’s website announcing the ICCROM Award recipient of 2025 and that formal endorsement and presentation of the Award will take place on the occasion of the General Assembly in November 2025.
1st July 2025: Deadline for the laudatio of the successful candidate(s).
November 2025: Council officially endorses the successful candidate(s) for the Award during the Council Meeting.
November 2025: General Assembly presents the Award to the winner(s)

Note: a list of former recipients of the ICCROM Award can be found here.

Revised Draft July 2024