scholarly journals A Global Scale Analysis of River Flood Risk of UNESCO World Heritage Sites

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Arrighi
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Risk Matrix ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
Hazard Exposure ◽  
River Flood

Floods can significantly affect Cultural Heritage with consequences that might not easily be repaired, given the unicity of this type of exposed asset. Flood losses are both tangible and intangible since communities rely on cultural heritage for its historical, spiritual, aesthetic, and socio-economic values. This work aims at examining river flood risk of UNESCO tangible World Heritage (UNWH) sites to identify the most at risk assets with a risk matrix approach entailing hazard, exposure, and vulnerability at a global scale. A distinction is made between natural sites, for which only hazard and exposure are assessed, and cultural and mixed sites. Hazard is evaluated by using the river flood maps at global scale developed by JRC for six probabilistic scenarios, exposure classification is based on the World Heritage List selection criteria and vulnerability is based on site typology. The analysis on 1,121 sites, as of March 2021, shows that 35% of natural and 21% of cultural and mixed UNWH sites are exposed to river floods. The risk matrix combining hazard, exposure, and vulnerability reveals that 2% of UNWH is at extremely high risk and 7% at very high risk, mostly in the Europe-North America and Asia-Pacific Regions. The analysis also stresses the need for a systematic collection, update, and storage of georeferenced data for cultural heritage. Further analysis should be carried out at local scales, with a priority for higher risk sites to better estimate hazard and vulnerability at a higher spatial resolution.

scholarly journals Conceptual Framework for On-site Digital Interpretation Developments in Cultural Heritage Sites

2022 ◽  
Vol 07 (01) ◽  
pp. 64-84
Author(s):  
R. Wimalasuriya ◽  
A. Kapukotuwa ◽  
G. Ranasinghe
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Site ◽  
Five Phases ◽  
Cultural World ◽  
Heritage Interpretation

On-site heritage interpretation plays a vital role in cultural heritage sites in conveying the significance and multiple heritage values to the visitors. In an era where the world is transforming with innovative digital applications, the heritage sites are also being integrated with digital interpretation techniques to deliver a better interpretation and new dimensional experience to the visitors. Though multiple digital solutions are available, not all the techniques are appropriate, applicable and feasible to every site. Besides, neither proper worldwide principles nor framework has been exerted for these digital heritage interpretation developments. Therefore, this study is focused on building a generic conceptual framework to select the most appropriate digital interpretation technique(s) that fit the context of the heritage site, giving special reference to the six Cultural World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka. The relevant qualitative and quantitative data were gathered via in-depth interviews, field observation, literature survey and a visitor survey questionnaire. The main themes and sub-themes derived through the thematic analysis were adopted as the theoretical framework for the research to analyze the collected data of the six Cultural World Heritage Sites and the selected digital techniques. Based on the results, the study recommends appropriate digital techniques for each Cultural World Heritage Sites of the country. Further as aimed, the study presents a conceptual framework for on-site digital interpretation developments for cultural heritage sites by categorizing the 24 criteria derived for data analysis under five phases namely ‘Prepare’, ‘Assess’, ‘Design’, ‘Implement’ and ‘Sustain’.

The development of legal framework for the management of World Heritage Sites in Oman: a case study on Bahla Oasis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ali Mohamed Khalil ◽  
Eman Hanye Mohamed Nasr
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Content Type ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Site ◽  
The World ◽  
Heritage Legislation

PurposeThe study aims to analyze the development of Omani heritage legislation against the UNESCO World Heritage Convention (WHC), 1972 and WHC Operational Guidelines (WHC-OGs) to predict the possible effects of the recent developments on the management of the World Heritage Site in Oman.Design/methodology/approachThis study discusses the development of the heritage protection legislation in Sultanate of Oman since 1970; it analyses the Omani Cultural Heritage Law 35/2019 against the recommendations of the UNESCO WHC as well as the requirements of the World Heritage Operational Guidelines. Moreover, the research investigates the possible effects of the recent heritage legislation developments on the management of Bahla Fort and Oasis in Oman, which is the first Omani World Heritage Site and the only site with special management regulations.FindingsThe paper outlines the effects of both the Omani Cultural Heritage Law 35/2019 and the Special Management Regulations 81/2019 on the implementation of the Bahla Management Plan. Additionally, the research establishes how the customization of heritage legislation as a special heritage management regulation facilitates the implementation of national legislation to solve specific local problems.Originality/valueThe study establishes the significance of developing comprehensive legislation to protect and manage the rich Omani cultural heritage and World Heritage Sites in alignment with the WHC and the WHC-OGs.

Cultural Landscape

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Funda Varnaci Uzun ◽  
Mehmet Somuncu
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
International Convention ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Major Factors

The “cultural landscape” has been a fundamental concept in geography and was first defined as “landscape modified by human activity” by the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel in 1890. It was introduced to American geography in the 1920s by Carl O. Sauer (American geographer). Since the 1960s, the concept has been widely used in human geography, anthropology, environmental management, and other related fields. One of the major factors that contributed to the recent popularity of its use, on a global scale, was the adoption of cultural landscapes in the International Convention for the World Heritage Convention by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1992. In this chapter, the basis of this concept, its emergence, and its relationships with other scientific disciplines, particularly geography, will be discussed. Moreover, the place of cultural landscapes within protected areas and UNESCO world heritage sites will be more specifically addressed.

scholarly journals The Assessment of Historic Towns’ Outstanding Universal Value Based on the Interchange of Human Values They Exhibit

Heritage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1874-1891
Author(s):  
Abdel Tawab
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Town Planning ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Human Values ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Site ◽  
Outstanding Universal Value

Influences exerted by cultural heritage properties on developments in architecture, town planning, or landscape design represent one of the criteria that are used to evaluate the Outstanding Universal Value of the properties nominated for listing as World Heritage Sites, which is criterion (ii). In 1996, the wording of criterion (ii) was revised to address the interchange of human values exhibited by cultural heritage properties. The main aim of this study was to discuss the changes that occurred to the application of criterion (ii) following the revision of its wording of 1996, particularly in relation to historic towns. The study also aimed at investigating the applicability of the revised version of criterion (ii) to the particularity of the cultural heritage of an Egyptian historic town and a potential World Heritage Site, which is “Historic quarters and monuments of Rosetta/Rachid”. To achieve these aims, a sample of World Heritage Sites, or potential ones, representing both the pre-1996 and the post-1996 historic towns whose Outstanding Universal Value was justified based on criterion (ii), was adopted for the analysis of the changes in the application of criterion (ii). Subsequently, a brief preview of the major features that represent the mutual influences experienced throughout Rosetta’s wider cultural context was carried out. The findings revealed that the prevalent trend in the post-1996 listings of historic towns is the emphasis on other cultures’ influences exerted on the concerned historic towns through interchanges of human values that take the form of exchanges of technical know-how, traditions and religious values. The findings also indicated the applicability of the revised version of criterion (ii) to the particularity of Rosetta’s cultural heritage. The study recommends inscribing Rosetta on the World Heritage List based on criterion (ii).

scholarly journals Protecting Outstanding Underwater Cultural Heritage through the World Heritage Convention: The Titanic and Lusitania as World Heritage Sites

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josh B. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Underwater Cultural Heritage ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
World Heritage Convention ◽  
World Heritage List ◽  
The World ◽  
The Many

Abstract Despite growing recognition of the global value of underwater cultural heritage (uch), along with intensified international efforts to ensure its protection, the possibility of its inscription on the World Heritage List has never been comprehensively examined. Arguing that the unesco 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage (uch Convention) is insufficient alone to protect globally outstanding wrecks, such as the Titanic and the Lusitania, this article examines in detail the many legal and practical challenges involved with listing such sites under the World Heritage Convention. By reviewing key international agreements such as the uch Convention, World Heritage Convention, Law of the Sea Convention and the International Titanic Agreement, it draws the conclusion that it is the improved offshore management of uch—through ‘cultural’ marine protected areas operating under the framework of the uch Convention—which would open the possibility of nomination to the World Heritage List.

scholarly journals Călin Neamtu, Vitalie Barca, Zsolt Buna, Promoting and Capitalizing on the Vestiges from Sarmizegetusa Regia by Modern Multimedia Methods

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-173
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
The Other ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Accurate Expression ◽  
On Line ◽  
Local Traditions

Sarmizegetusa Regia was included, together with the other five Dacian fortresses, on the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1999. They are a unique synthesis of external cultural influences and local traditions in terms of building techniques and overall, in the ancient military architecture, representing the grand expression of the civilisation of the Dacian Kingdom. These fortresses are the accurate expression of the exceptional development level of the Dacian civilisation, Sarmizegetusa Regia lying at the forefront of this fortified complex, epitomizing the evolution phenomenon from fortified centres to proto-urban agglomerations. As such, promoting these monuments and the numerous artefacts discovered by modern methods and techniques should become a priority. This paper presents a series of last generation applications and equipment that may be successfully used in promoting cultural heritage. Case studies include scanned artefacts and 3D reconstructions of the monuments in the site of Sarmizegetusa Regia, a monument on the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites together with the other five Dacian fortresses (Bănița, Costești-Blidaru, Costești-Cetățuie, Piatra Roșie and Căpâlna). We present here the results obtained following the use of several hardware tracking systems, augmented virtual reality applications and haptic devices. One of the important aspects, when attempting to make enhanced on-line use of heritage good is the extent to which it is accessible and reusable by various categories of users, either specialists or the general public. Digitalizing a good in the cultural heritage is the first step for ensuring the broad access via the on-line medium, the quality of this process ensuring the electronic format artefact legitimacy and credibility, which means that it should be an electronic duplicate truthful to the real artefact.

Cultural Landscape

2019 ◽  
pp. 203-229
Author(s):  
Funda Varnaci Uzun ◽  
Mehmet Somuncu
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
International Convention ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Major Factors

The “cultural landscape” has been a fundamental concept in geography and was first defined as “landscape modified by human activity” by the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel in 1890. It was introduced to American geography in the 1920s by Carl O. Sauer (American geographer). Since the 1960s, the concept has been widely used in human geography, anthropology, environmental management, and other related fields. One of the major factors that contributed to the recent popularity of its use, on a global scale, was the adoption of cultural landscapes in the International Convention for the World Heritage Convention by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1992. In this chapter, the basis of this concept, its emergence, and its relationships with other scientific disciplines, particularly geography, will be discussed. Moreover, the place of cultural landscapes within protected areas and UNESCO world heritage sites will be more specifically addressed.

Global overview of the geological hazard exposure and disaster risk awareness at world heritage sites

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 151-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Pavlova ◽  
Alexandros Makarigakis ◽  
Thomas Depret ◽  
Vincent Jomelli
Keyword(s):  
World Heritage ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Geological Hazard ◽  
Risk Awareness ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Hazard Exposure

scholarly journals World Heritage Sites on Wikipedia: Cultural Heritage Activism in a Context of Constrained Agency

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Marwick ◽  
Prema Smith
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Data Science ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
The Past ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Distributions ◽  
Cultural Sites

UNESCO World Heritage sites are places of outstanding significance, and often key sources of information that influence how people interact with the past today. The process of inscription on the UNESCO list is complicated and intersects with political and commercial controversies. But how well are these controversies known to the public? Wikipedia pages on these sites offer a unique dataset for insights into public understanding of heritage controversies. The unique technicity of Wikipedia, with its bot ecosystem and editing mechanics, shapes how knowledge about cultural heritage is constructed, and how controversies are negotiated and communicated. In this article we investigate the patterns of production, consumption and spatial and temporal distributions of Wikipedia pages for World Heritage cultural sites. We find that Wikipedia provides a distinctive context for investigating how people experience and relate to the past in the present. The agency of participants is highly constrained, but distinctive, behind-the-scenes expressions of cultural heritage activism are evident. Concerns about state-like actors, violence and destruction, deal-making, etc. in the World Heritage inscription process are present, but rare on Wikipedia’s World Heritage pages. Instead hyper-local, and process issues dominate controversies on Wikipedia. We describe how this kind of research, drawing on big data and data science methods, contributes to digital heritage studies, and also reveals its limitations.

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