UNESCO World Heritage Committee session to be hosted by China after a one-year hiatus
The World Heritage Committee’s 44th session will be chaired from Fuzhou (China) and take place online from 16 to 31 July, combining current work and issues left outstanding since last year, when the annual meeting was postponed due to COVID-19. The extended session will be chaired by Tian Xuejun, China’s Vice Minister for Education and Director of China’s National Commission for UNESCO.
Mechtild Rössler, Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, will be available to answer journalists’ questions about the forthcoming World Heritage Committee session at an online information session on 22 June, at 2pm, Central European Time. After registering online, journalists will receive login information by mail).
On 18 July (9.45 am CET), Mr Tian and Ms Rössler will host a press conference that will be streamed online (details to follow).
On 16 July, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay will take part in the opening of the session. during which the Committee will notably examine the state of conservation of 255 sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List, 53 of which also figure on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Starting on 24 July, the World Heritage Committee will start inscribing nominated sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, beginning with nominations that could not be reviewed last year.
2020 Nominations
Natural sites:
Georgia, Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands
Japan, Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, Northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island
Republic of Korea, Getbol, Korean Tidal Flat
Slovenia, Classical Karst
Thailand, Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex
Mixed cultural and natural sites:
Ethiopia, Holqa Sof Umar: Natural and Cultural Heritage (Sof Umar: Caves of Mystery)
Cultural sites:
Austria / Belgium / Czechia / France / Germany / Italy / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The Great Spas of Europe
Austria / Germany / Hungary / Slovakia, Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes (Western Segment)
Belgium / Netherlands Colonies of Benevolence
Brazil, Sítio Roberto Burle Marx
China, Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China
Dominican Republic, Historical and Archaeological Site of La Isabela
France, Cordouan Lighthouse
Germany, Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt
Greece, Fortress of Spinalonga
India, The Glorious Kakatiya Temples and Gateways – Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Palampet, Jayashankar Bhupalpally District, Telangana State
Iran (Islamic Republic of), Trans-Iranian Railway
Italy, ‘Padova Urbs picta’, Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel and Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles
Mongolia, Deer Stone Monuments and Related Sites, the Heart of Bronze Age Culture
Netherlands, Dutch Water Defence Lines [extension of “Defence Line of Amsterdam”, inscribed in 1996]
Peru, Chankillo Solar Observatory and ceremonial center
Romania, Roșia Montană Mining Landscape
Saudi Arabia, Cultural Rock Arts in Ḥimā Najrān
Spain, Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, a landscape of Arts and Sciences
Turkey, Arslantepe Mound
Uruguay, The work of engineer Eladio Dieste: Church of Atlántida
2021 Nominations
Natural sites:
Gabon, Ivindo National Park
Bosnia and Herzegovina / Czechia / France / Italy / Montenegro / North Macedonia / Poland / Serbia / Slovakia / Switzerland, Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe [extension of “Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe”, inscribed in 2007, extensions in 2011 and 2017]
Cultural sites:
Chile, Settlement and Artificial Mummification of the Chinchorro Culture in the Arica and Parinacota Region
Côte d’Ivoire, Sudanese style mosques in northern Côte d’Ivoire
France, Nice, capital of Riviera tourism
Germany, ShUM Sites of Speyer, Worms and Mainz
Germany / Netherlands, Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Lower German Limes
India, Dholavira: A Harappan City
Iran (Islamic Republic of), Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat
Italy, The Porticoes of Bologna
Japan, Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
Jordan, As-Salt – The Place of Tolerance and Urban Hospitality
Latvia, Grobiņa archaeological ensemble
Mexico, Franciscan Ensemble of the Monastery and Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Tlaxcala [extension of “Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl”, inscribed in 1994]
Poland, Gdańsk Shipyard – the birthplace of “Solidarity” and the symbol of the Fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe
Russian Federation, Petroglyphs of Lake Onega and the White Sea
Slovenia, The works of Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana – Human Centred Urban Design
Spain, Ribeira Sacra
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales
World Heritage Committee has inscribed 1,121 sites in 167 countries on the World Heritage List to date. Composed of representatives of 21 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, the Committee is in charge of implementing the Convention.