Research project UN/3 (Research action UN)
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The project proposal aims at providing a holistic approach for the recording, documentation, protection and monitoring of potential World Heritage Properties in the Silk Road’s C-Asian countries. This will be carried out in consultation with Belgian Federal Science Policy Office and with UNESCO by a Belgian consortium headed by the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (RLICC), University of Leuven.
In addition to the development of an approach, this project is aimed at developing capacities in the C-Asia countries in World Heritage documentation, protection, management, monitoring and in preparing periodic reporting based on documentation and monitoring.
The proposal wants to start from yet existing understanding of the documentation and monitoring needs in the region for the purpose of the preparation of a (serial) nomination application to the World Heritage List. Further research will complete those needs with up-to-date international standards on identification, documentation and monitoring aspects of local, regional and universal value. So doing it may become a standard for similar regional and world-wide activities.
Strong collaboration will be set-up with the focal points and coordinators of the regional workshops, considering the outcome of their previous meetings and building upon the work they have carried out (development of the Significance of Outstanding Universal Value (SOUV) and the update of the tentative lists in the countries concerned. This continuous dialogue with the participants to the workshops, coordinators, UNESCO and the category II centres involved will be crucial to guarantee the success of the project.
Heritage information approach
• Collecting and studying the standards of documentation for sites for the Silk Roads Cultural Route nomination as developed by working groups at the Almaty (Kazakhstan) meeting of the concerned stakeholders from 18 to 24 May 2009.
• Design of rapid-assessment forms for the preparation of national inventories for World Heritage tentative listing, making emphasis in the collection of relevant information according to the UNESCO WH Operational Guidelines;
• Design of guidelines and standards for the documentation of Cultural Heritage Resources in the region;
• Propose appropriate tools for documentation, monitoring, interpretation, and presentation of Cultural Heritage Resources in the region.
