Procedures and Methods to Strengthen World Heritage Protection

This year's conference of ICOMOS Germany on 8 November 2024 in Leipzig will be dealing with the protection and conservation of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Many of the approximately 1,200 World Heritage sites worldwide are increasingly exposed to a variety of threats, and the number of reports on the state of conservation that the World Heritage Committee deals with at its annual meetings is constantly increasing. In particular, development projects and large-scale construction projects in and around World Heritage sites have the potential to negatively affect attributes relevant to World Heritage sites and thus the Outstanding Universal Value. The World Heritage Centre, in cooperation with the advisory bodies ICOMOS, IUCN and ICCROM, has therefore developed guidelines in recent years to support World Heritage stakeholders in the protection of World Heritage sites. Together with World Heritage experts, the conference will explain the World Heritage procedures and existing tools for protection, but also identify the challenges in their use and discuss possible further solutions for strengthening protection.

The international conference is particularly aimed at site managers of World Heritage sites, the authorities and specialized offices responsible for World Heritage, national World Heritage Focal Points, and ICOMOS members, as well as a professional audience in general.