Overview

As the World Heritage Convention enters its 50th year, questions are being raised about its failures and successes. This topical book draws together perspectives across law and heritage research to examine the Convention and its implementation through the novel lens of compliance. The book challenges the widely held view that managing the 'world’s heritage' is a non-regulatory, incentive-based task with limited sanctioning options. Combining theoretical perspectives with deep technical analysis and historical investigation, the book tackles the compliance question through an examination of 12 diverse cases. Analysing past World Heritage properties like the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary (Oman) and Dresden Elbe Valley (Germany), as well as at-risk properties, like the Great Barrier Reef (Australia), Group of Monuments at Hampi (India) and Everglades National Park (United States), chapters trace the evolution and application of key non-compliance mechanisms like Reactive Monitoring, the In Danger List, and the Deletion procedure. In so doing, this book provides a comprehensive understanding of the Convention's compliance architecture and the tools available to respond to instances of non-compliance. Illustrating how an improved compliance system is a critical component of a functioning and legitimate World Heritage regime, this book provides an invaluable resource to heritage and environmental policymakers and organisations looking to understand obligations under the Convention, as well as students and scholars coming to terms with the impact of the regime.

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9781789904918

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Reviews

‘This work involves a high level of technicality in law and policy and scientific data analysis, highlighting the dynamic between scientific reports and decision-making in heritage policies.’ -- Anaïs Matiez, Asian Journal of International Law ‘How we conserve our natural and cultural heritage, and with what effect on people and the natural environment, depends largely on how science-based regimes play out. Implementing the World Heritage Convention: Dimensions of Compliance is a major contribution to the critical debate on science-based governance of World Heritage. Hamman and Hølleland have systematically examined UNESCO’s digital archive to illuminate compliance and non-compliance across 12 high-profile cases, including the Everglades, the Great Barrier Reef, East Rennell, Old Town of Lijiang, Dresden and George Town. By synthesising perspectives from transnational environmental law and archaeology, the book breaks new ground in the vitally important project of global heritage conservation.’ -- Tiffany H. Morrison, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies ‘A half-century after the adoption of the World Heritage Convention, much research and public comment focuses on the ways in which the World Heritage system is bent to political purposes and vested interests. But what if we take its ambitious regulatory apparatus seriously? Positing compliance as a key notion, heritage studies specialist Hølleland and law scholar Hamman deliver a meticulously researched analysis of how the rules and procedures around awarding, monitoring and removing World Heritage honours have been conceptualised and implemented over the years. For anyone interested in a realistic appraisal of the possibilities and limitations of the most prominent global framework for heritage conservation, this is an invaluable resource.’ -- Christoph Brumann, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Germany

'How we conserve our natural and cultural heritage, and with what effect on people and the natural environment, depends largely on how science-based regimes play out. Implementing the World Heritage Convention: Dimensions of Compliance is a major contribution to the critical debate on science-based governance of World Heritage. Hamman and Holleland have systematically examined UNESCO's digital archive to illuminate compliance and non-compliance across 12 high-profile cases, including the Everglades, the Great Barrier Reef, East Renell, Old Town of Lijiang, Dresden and George Town. By synthesising perspectives from transnational environmental law and archaeology, the book breaks new ground in the vitally important project of global heritage conservation.' -- Tiffany H. Morrison, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies 'A half-century after the adoption of the World Heritage Convention, much research and public comment focuses on the ways in which the World Heritage system is bent to political purposes and vested interests. But what if we take its ambitious regulatory apparatus seriously? Positing compliance as a key notion, heritage studies specialist Holleland and law scholar Hamman deliver a meticulously researched analysis of how the rules and procedures around awarding, monitoring and removing World Heritage honours have been conceptualised and implemented over the years. For anyone interested in a realistic appraisal of the possibilities and limitations of the most prominent global framework for heritage conservation, this is an invaluable resource.' -- Christoph Brumann, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Germany

Author Information

Evan Hamman, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology School of Law, Australia and Herdis Hølleland, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, Norway

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