The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the UNESCO Cluster Office in Tehran, in cooperation with the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO and the Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, are organizing the 6th meeting of the Coordinating Committee of the Serial Transnational World Heritage Nomination of the Silk Roads from 23 to 26 September 2019 in Hamedan, Iran.
The UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust (FiT) project “Support for Silk Roads World Heritage Sites in Central Asia (Phase II)” and the UNESCO/Republic of Korea FiT project “Support for the Asian Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination(s) (Phase II)” are partially financing this meeting.
Together with China and five Central Asian countries, the World Heritage Centre has coordinated the preparation of the serial transnational World Heritage nomination of the Silk Roads since 2003. Central Asia and China have supported the project by organising regional and sub-regional consultation meetings, establishing the inter-governmental Coordinating Committee, which encompass the 16 participating countries (and Bhutan as an observer), and by elaborating a Thematic Study on the Silk Roads, in cooperation with ICOMOS and the World Heritage Centre. Since 2003, projects funded through the UNESCO/Netherlands FiT, the UNESCO/Japan FiT and the UNESCO/Norway FiT have supported capacity-building activities and nomination preparation in Central Asia. The UNESCO/Republic of Korea FiT also supports the South Asian Silk Roads project since July 2013. As a result of the international cooperation and as an outcome of the five previous Coordinating Committee meetings held between 2009 and 2017, two nomination files were prepared. These were reviewed at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in June 2014 (Doha, Qatar), and the Committee inscribed “The Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang’an - Tian-shan Corridor” on the World Heritage List, following a nomination submitted by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
The meeting will bring together the National Focal Points and experts from sixteen participating countries of the Intergovernmental Coordinating Committee for the Silk Roads serial transnational World Heritage nomination (Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) as well as Bhutan as an observer. Together with other partner countries, they will review the State of Conservation of the inscribed Silk Roads World Heritage property and the progress made by those countries that participate in the serial transnational World Heritage Nomination(s) Process of the Silk Roads. The meeting also aims to explore further continuation of the ICOMOS Thematic Study covering other parts of Asia and to decide on a strategy for related nominations.
The meeting will involve UNESCO representatives and international experts and other international resource personnel, including the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS, Samarkand) as well as the ICOMOS International Conservation Centre in Xi’an (IICC Xi’an), which acts as the Secretariat of the Silk Roads Intergovernmental Coordinating Committee as well as. These resource persons will facilitate discussions and provide technical assistance on the serial World Heritage nomination of the Silk Roads.
