Current policy and course of Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage The dissertation "Current policy and course of Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage" will focus on current policy of UNESCO in Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the Convention), reflection of its recent past, current situation and future visions. Dissertation will mainly follow implementation of Global Strategy for Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List, which significantly influenced the policy of the Convention and other strategic plans accepted by State Parties. Global Strategy significantly changed demands on the nomination documentation, nomination process and listing of new properties in the World Heritage List in past few years. These changes are also closely related to the participation of Advisory Bodies of the Convention (ICOMOS, IUCN, ICCROM) on national and international level. Recent changes were reflected not only in demands to State Parties but also in implementation of the Convention, for example by changing the voting system to the World Heritage Committee and efforts for more effective financing system of expenses necessary for implementation of the Convention. This...

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / In January 1997, Robben Island Museum (RIM) opened its doors to the public as a tourist destination. This was done without any formal management structure or strategic planning, to cope not only with its mandate as the first National Museum of the new democratic South Africa, but also to meet the demand of the great interest of visitors to see this prison where the icon of the liberation struggle, Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years. This operational take-off without formal administrative management structure and strategic planning was understandable given the social and political transitional climate in the country. The effect thereof as the old adage states ‘failure to plan is planning for failure’ seems to hold true for RIM who is struggling to become a well-managed national heritage site. RIM over the years have been beset with governance and management challenges and enjoyed continual bad publicity. The study’s aim was to bring an understanding of what the major governance and managerial challenges were and to make recommendations to address those. The study was guided by a central research question namely What were the administrative and management challenges of RIM and in what ways did it impact on the operational effectiveness of RIM as a national museum and World heritage site. A number of findings emanated from the study. A key one was that clarity of roles and responsibilities of the council and the management is required. Furthermore, the vision and mission of RIM must inform the formulation of strategies to give effect thereto. This in turn must be the base for the development of an appropriate organisational structure to implement the strategies. A number of recommendation stems from the research. An important one was that appointment must be on the basis of ‘fit for purpose’. This means that staff with the right skills and capacity should be appointed as a matter of priority. In conclusion, the findings of the study could be used by other heritage organisations faced with similar organisational challenges.

Because of their outstanding universal significance, World Heritage sites are worthy of special protection by the international and local communities. They obtain this status after being listed under the UNESCO 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. In previously colonised regions such as Africa, the conservation and management of World Heritage is based on international laws and modern management systems introduced after conquest. However, the process protects mostly the universal values on which the inscription of the site was based. This often marginalises local values and local management systems which are important to local communities. It also alienates local communities from their heritage which they have protected for many years. This research explores the relationship between modern and traditional management systems in the Okavango Delta Natural World Heritage site. It will focus on understanding the local values of the site, the current management system and traditional practices of the local communities. The expected outcome is to develop a syncretic management system influenced by the traditional and the modern. It is hoped that such a system will not privilege one type of value over others.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地球環境学) / 甲第20542号 / 地環博第163号 / 新制||地環||33(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院地球環境学舎環境マネジメント専攻 / (主査)教授 柴田 昌三, 教授 星野 敏, 准教授 深町 加津枝 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Global Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM

The means in which fossil accumulations in the caves of southern Africa have formed is of great importance. One method of accumulation is via the collecting behaviours of a variety of mammalian species. The core of said behaviour is in the use of caves by these species. This project was designed to give insight to the way that animals in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa are using caves today. The objective of this research is to give a new understanding to the amount that caves are used by various taxa in South African cave systems, with particular regard to taphonomic agents and potential taphonomic agents. This study was accomplished over a 20-month period by setting up motion sensor cameras outside of cave entrances at the Malapa Nature Reserve. Results have shown that animals use caves at high frequencies, crucial to recognize when examining fossil accumulations.

How can contemporary architecture approach an extremely specific and historical context?Grounded in the site and its history, this question is investigated through theprocess of adding a literary theatre and housing in the city centre of Visby, Gotland.

No description available.

No / As the essays in this book demonstrate, Prehistoric and Romano-British landscape studies have come a long way since Hoskins, whose work reflected the prevailing 'Celtic' ethnological narrative of Britain before the medieval period. The contributors present a stimulating survey of the subject as it is in the early twenty-first century, and provide some sense of a research frontier where new conceptualisations of 'otherness' and new research techniques are transforming our understanding.

The typical tourism planning and development process can be divided into different phases: preparation (goals and objectives), research, conclusions, recommendations, implementation, monitoring & evaluation. This thesis is a part of such a development process and position itself in the research phase with the aim to create a knowledge base for future sustainable development of tourism in the world heritage city of Gjirokastra in the southern part of Albania. To create the socio-environmental map of the thesis, the authors lived two months in Gjirokastra, and with a holistic approach collected, compiled and analyzed an immense amount of data. Thus this thesis is only providing the first piece in the puzzle of the bigger project: to create a sustainable tourism development plan for the city of Gjirokastra.  Gjirokastra has special conditions for tourism since it is a World Heritage site, elected in 2005 for its rare type of Ottoman stone houses which the old bazaar/old town is dominated by. The management of a World Heritage site is both a national and a global concern involving many stakeholders exhibiting different desires and requests. World heritage management and tourism destination aspirations are only two of many other issues facing the city of Gjirokastra and the nation of Albania. Like many other post-communist countries Albania is struggling between a fast economic development and the restraints of preserving heritage: modernization vs. tradition. In Gjirokastra this is evident through the city’s division in a new and old town – each fighting for attention and resources.  The results of the thesis contains information on the tourism resources of Gjirokastra; this is described in chapters of supply research and culture-, economy- and natural resources. The current status and potential of each has been described and analyzed, data being collected through participant observation, analyzing written material and through interviews with visitors, local businesses and stakeholders.  The result describes a city facing many problems due to lack of laws and regulations creating a variety of issues both in nature, culture and economy: poverty, “brain-leakage” through migration, waste, water and pollution, unemployment, poor stakeholder collaboration, abandoned houses and traditions, bureaucracy, corruption, management issue, a lack of tourism activities and information, poor marketing and poor tourism services. Tourism development is identified as an important tool for problem solution and societal development by the stakeholders, however the municipality’s actions are focused on the citizens and by catering to them it is considered that tourists will also benefit. This approach results in interest conflicts between the stakeholders where the municipality is focusing on improving the new town and the cultural organizations on the old town. Even though many elaborate tourism strategies already exists amongst the different stakeholders no one has so far been successfully implemented due to unclear responsibilities, action time frame issues and a lack of funds. Since there is no budget for tourism the different strategies turns into wish-lists from which money is sought. The result is a few successful short term projects funded by various different European organizations. The problem of restoring houses is also the following revitalization of them. The citizens of Gjirokastra want a modern life which the old houses cannot under the world heritage regulation provide. Here is where tourism is considered to be the solution – creating an attractive living and business area that will revitalize the old town. As of now the world heritage suffers from not having a management plan, the old houses are stuck in after-communism-legal issues in many cases then abandoned or modernized. There is no waste management in Gjirokastra and the effects of this is not being researched. The observation and interview result shows that there are multiple environmental problems that now accumulate, in this study the tourist satisfaction was affected by the waste appearance. Without laws and restrictions on tourism, heritage and environment it is easy to turn the eyes away from carrying capacity and focus on short term solutions.  Tourism is in the meanwhile driven by private local entrepreneurship and innovation but without strategies, regulations or market research an imbalance in the tourism system is evident in the market and supply match. A bench marketing tradition or “copy & pasting” has so far resulted in restaurants, hotels, cafes and souvenir shops selling indistinguishable products and only a few other activities than sightseeing are being offered. In the visitor surveys from time to time it is apparent that tourists think Gjirokastra has great potential but the city’s problems are surfacing and affecting the level of satisfaction.   There is thus a pressing need for collaboration between the different stakeholders to create one sustainable tourism development plan, to define roles and responsibilities and action implementation. The natural and cultural resources and its potentials for tourism are huge but without these regulatory bodies tourism impacts might be irreversible negative. It is in this moment of time, before goals are decided upon, ideal that ideas of sustainability, in this case meaning that the environment’s, culture’s and economy’s interests are also taken in account and incorporated to shape the development process. This is highlighted throughout the thesis.

Festrede anlässlich des Festaktes der Deutschen UNESCO-Kommission e.V. zum 40-jährigen Jubiläum der UNESCO-Welterbekonvention im Theater Vorpommern in Stralsund am 21. Juni 2012