Managing World Heritage

Managing World Heritage

World Heritage faces a wide range of challenges, including urbanization, new developments, disasters, climate change and inadequate maintenance and conservation. To address these issues effectively, site managers must adopt integrated and collaborative management approaches that bridge nature and culture, working closely with various agencies and institutions.

A total of 170 States Parties have properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, while 147 States Parties have encountered management challenges that prompted the Reactive Monitoring process. This manual serves as a go-to reference for site managers, institutions, rights-holders, heritage professionals and stakeholders involved in World Heritage.
It provides guidance on the key elements required for robust heritage management systems and offers insights into navigating management processes towards more effective management plans.

Additionally, it emphasizes the need to consider social, economic and environmental contexts, ensuring that heritage plays a meaningful role in the life of the community.

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Managing World Heritage manual

This chapter provides an overview manual's content and its intended audience.
Chapter 2

The Heritage Place as a basis for management

This chapter presents the heritage place approach to heritage management, emphasizes the importance of people-centred approaches, and provides an overview of the management system for heritage places.
Chapter 3

Understanding the Heritage Place

Chapter 4

Governance for the Heritage Place

This chapter looks at the governance of heritage places including working with a wide range of actors (managers, rights-holders and stakeholders) and at understanding the legal, regulatory and customary frameworks. It also looks at decision making processes.
Chapter 5

Strengthening management processes at heritage places

This chapter provides an overview of essential management processes including management planning, implementation, disaster risk management, climate action, impact assessment, tourism and visitor management, and monitoring.
Chapter 6

Evaluating results and improving the management system

This chapter focused on results, evaluation and the need to improve the management system, and it introduces the methodology for management effectiveness assessment of the Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit 2.0.