Expeditio

EXPEDITIO representative, Aleksandra Kapetanović, is taking part in the International course on Heritage Impact Assessment - HIA, which is being organized in Vigan, Philippine, on 17‐28 October 2016.

The course is organized by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO, Shanghai Centre (WHITRAP, Shanghai). The course participants are mid-career heritage practitioners and decision-makers from all over the world.

Aleksandra’s participation in the HIA course has been supported by the Petrović Njegoš Foundation, which covered part of her expenses.

Heritage Impact Assessment – HIA is a tool developed by ICOMOS for UNESCO World Heritage sites in order to assess potential negative impact of development projects on these sites.

In recent years the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has examined a considerable number of State of Conservation Reports related to threats from various types of large‐scale development activities to the World Heritage properties. These activities include infrastructure development, new buildings, urban renewal and changes to the land use, some of which are insensitive or inappropriate. The Committee has also examined threats from excessive or inappropriate tourism. Many of these activities have had the potential to impact adversely on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), including integrity and authenticity of the properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. In order to evaluate satisfactorily the potential impacts, the World Heritage Committee has suggested the State Parties concerned to conduct Heritage Impact Assessments. Impact assessment has been a tool used in evaluating impacts by other sectors widely and the time has come to adapt it to suit heritage sector.

Meeting the demand of the Committee in particular, and considering the growing need for the practitioners in the heritage sector to be equipped with knowledge and skills on Heritage Impact Assessments, WHITRAP together with ICCROM initiated a training workshop in 2012 which was repeated in 2014.

Objectives of the course, among others, are: to provide participants with the knowledge on management requirements for World Heritage Sites, to provide the current knowledge and skills of using Heritage Impact Assessments as a tool for evaluating impacts from various factors affecting heritage in general, and World Heritage sites in particular and to promote the exchange of experiences and information among participants and the institutions.

Considering the current state of the Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor, and already recognized risk of excessive urbanization, the World Heritage Committee has requested, since 2014, that several HIAs should be undertaken for certain plans and traffic solutions for this area.

This has been especially emphasized in the decisions adopted during the last session of the World Heritage Committee held in Istanbul this year.

Additional information about the course can be found on ICCROM website.