World Heritage Sites for the Nation: the preservation of World Heritage Sites in a national context

本项目将评估1972年联合国教科文组织《保护世界文化和自然遗产公约》（以下简称《公约》）在十个国家（澳大利亚、中国、法国、德国、意大利、日本、瑞士、西班牙、英国和美国）的执行情况。它将评估其对国家法律的影响及其在保护世界遗产地方面的有效性；通过制定一套最低法律标准和政策，促进对这些遗产地的有效管理，造福子孙后代，这些标准和政策应成为地方当局、政府和利益攸关方的重要参考点。《公约》承认，各国有义务保护其文化遗产，以实现保护人类历史和改善当地社区福祉的双重目标。世界文化遗产共有704处，其中大部分位于发达国家。这些城市受到各种人为威胁，例如建设现代基础设施的压力、城市发展、私有化、不可持续的旅游业、管理不善或行政/立法规定不足。例如，德累斯顿山谷（德国）文化遗产在2009年被除名，因为建造了一座四车道的桥梁，破坏了它的突出的普遍价值。世界遗产委员会最近发现，西欧目前的大多数管理制度和保护安排需要改进，并强调需要提供关于《公约》不同缔约国的立法和其他保护方面的充分资料（《世界遗产报告20,61;62》）。该研究将通过对10个法律体系和两个跨学科问题的批判性比较来评估各国法律在保护世界遗产方面的效率，并允许从历史和文化的角度进行详细和持续的参与，从而解决这些问题。它将分析《公约》在国际和国家两级的法律论述，以便了解对具有突出普遍价值的遗产地作出一致定义的困难。第二，它将对保护这些遗址的国家法律文书和政策进行批判性评价，以便形成未来管理这些遗址的前景，并通过长期战略规划加强对这些遗址的管理。这将通过评估《公约》第5条中不确定的“适当性”标准来实现；评价保护、养护和恢复这些遗址所需的国家法律、行政和财政措施；它将研究不同的所有权制度，最后将审查不同级别当局之间综合管理政策的水平。该项目的研究成果将通过提供对文化遗产法律背后价值的清晰理解，并通过为地方当局、政府和国际机构（无论是公共的、私人的还是自愿的）（地方当局、文化、媒体和体育部、英国遗产、国民信托）制定长期的法律/政策战略规划，从而加强对世界遗产地的管理，造福后代和当地社区。该项目将包括一个研讨会，一个会议，以及在国际知名学者和相关利益相关者之间建立一个文化遗产保护网络，这将远远超过这里所要求的资金期限。研究结果将发表在一本书中，研究结果将通过一份政策文件在有关国家的决策者中传播。肯特大学的遗产创新网络（THINK）也将促进传播，该网络将与当地学校和博物馆组织活动，促进文化遗产的保护。

This project will evaluate the implementation of the 1972 UNESCO Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the Convention) in ten countries (Australia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, the UK and the USA). It will assess its impact on national laws and its effectiveness in protecting World Heritage Sites; promoting effective custodianship of those Sites for the benefit of future generations by developing a set of minimum legal standards and policies, which should become a crucial reference point for local authorities, governments and stakeholders. The Convention recognises that States have a duty to protect their cultural heritage with the dual aim to care for the past of humankind and improve the wellbeing of local communities. There are 704 Cultural World Heritage Sites, most of them in developed countries. These are under different man-made threats such as pressure to build modern infrastructure, urban development, privatisation, unsustainable tourism, poor management or inadequate administrative/legislative provisions. For example the Dresden Valley (Germany) Cultural World Heritage Site was delisted in 2009 because of the construction of a four-lane bridge that spoiled its Outstanding Universal Value. The World Heritage Committee recently found that most current management systems and protection arrangements in Western Europe need improvement and highlighted a need to give full information on legislation and other aspects of protection in the different countries party to the Convention (World Heritage Report 20,61;62). The research will address these problems by evaluating the efficiency of national laws in the protection of World Heritage Sites through a critical comparison of ten legal systems and two questions that will cross disciplines and allow for a detailed and sustained engagement with a historical and cultural perspective. It will provide an analysis of the legal discourse of the Convention at both international and national level in order to understand the difficulty of developing a coherent definition of sites of Outstanding Universal Value. Secondly, it will offer a critical evaluation of national legal instruments and policies that protect those sites in order to shape perspectives for their future management and to enhance their stewardship through long term strategic planning. This will be achieved through an assessment of the indeterminate criteria of 'appropriateness' found in Art. 5 of the Convention; an evaluation of national legal, administrative and financial measures necessary for the protection, conservation and rehabilitation of those Sites; it will look at the different regimes of ownership and finally it will examine the level of integrated management policy between the different level of authorities. The findings from this project will enhance the stewardship of World Heritage Sites for the benefit of future generations and local communities by providing a clear understanding of the values behind cultural heritage laws and by developing long term legal/policy strategic planning for local authorities, governments and international agencies whether public, private or voluntary (local authorities, Department of Culture, Media and Sport, English Heritage, National Trust). The project will include a workshop, a conference, and the creation of a network on the protection of the cultural heritage between international leading scholars and relevant stakeholders, which will long outlast the duration of the funding requested here. The results will be published in a book and findings will be disseminated amongst policy makers in the relevant countries through a policy document. Dissemination will also be facilitated through The Heritage Innovation Network at Kent (THINK) at the University of Kent which will organise events with local schools and museums promoting the protection of cultural heritage.