The 1972 UNESCO Convention on the Preservation on of World Cultural and Natural Heritage is an attempt to protect the wonders of the world once and for al By 19Y5 the Convention has been signed by 1,4 states, so that it is now the most widely accepted international UNESCO document The purpose of the Convent 011 is to define the sense of natural and cultural heritage or global ,importance and to compile the list of sites and treasures whose universal value makes the whole mankind committed to their preservation. Hence the need, emphasized in the Convention, for cooperation among nations and states to make such protection as efficient as possible.
By signing the Convention each country undertakes to take special care of the sites and treasures on the world heritage list within their respective borders. For its part, the international community assists these countries in their efforts to preserve such herlitage That is what the UNESCO World Heritage Committee was established for. It consists of 21 representatives from member countries which have signed the Convention This Committee decides on sites and treasures to be inscribed on the List and approves financial and technical assistance for conservation programmes.
How to decide of the criteria for entry in this highly prestigious list? How to define the special and universal value of a treasure, a site, a landscape? The Convention partly answers these questions. The Committee has worked out detailed criteria for nomination for the List which grows from year to year. Thus a cultural treasure must be authentic and have a major impact on the development of culture of a certain period; it must be a unique specimen of a style, associated with prevailing ideas and beliefs of universal meaning, or must be an example of the traditional way of life typical of a culture.
Natural heritage will be put on the List if it exemplifies the geological development of the earth and life on it, or if it is a habitat of rare or endangered species, a wildlife reservation, etc. A landscape may also be nominated owing to its exceptional beauty or if it unites cultural and natural features. The Committee defines and applies these criteria to prevent the List from becoming overextended as a result of the tendency of member states to propose and inscribe any locality to their liking. The Committee may proclaim a world heritage site or treasure endangered if it is exposed to a serious risk of destruction. This was the case with the Plitvice Lakes National Park and the Old City of Dubrovnik in Croatia, when, as a consequence of war in Croatia, the Committee decided to put them on the World Heritage in Danger list.
Since 1979 the following Croatian sites are on the World
Heritage List:
As every country has the right to propose
new localities for the L st, as candidates for the List Croatia
has proposed: Trogir O d City Centre, Euphrasius Basilica
in Porec, the cultural and natura complex of Mali Ston,
Krapje Village in Lonja Valley, the Fortress of Osijek, Kopacki
Swaps, the Arena of Pula, Kornati Archipelago, Sibenik
Cathedral, the ecclesiastic centre of Zadar with the remains
of the Roman Forum and Varazdin Old City Centre.
Nomination of one or more of these sites or treasures for
the World Heritage List s subjec~ to rigorous criterla
prescribed by the Convention and supervlsed by the World
Heritage Committee. n proposing them every government
must be prepared to ensure maximum protection to each
of them in terms of conservation, restoration,
reconstruction, maintenance of the surrounding area in a
way suited to the high value of the cultura or natural
heritage selected for the Llst.
The selection of one of these treasures for the Worid Heritage List means that the chosen site is considered as an universal value, and represents outstanding example of the memory of the whoie humankind Heritage is the measure of our dentity and pride, but a so of our responsibility. In order to raise this awareness among young people, the Croatian Commission for UNESCO has joined in the World Heritage Youth Programme initiated jointly by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the Associated Schools Project.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has been active since 1991. As the number of (natural and cultural) sites in 134 states signatories of the Convention inscribed on the World Heritage List has increased to more than 400, a need has arisen to set up a special centre for coordination of actions related to programmes for monitoring the status of and preserving the UNESCO-sponsored heritage.
UNESCO Associated Schools Project came into being in 1953 and received its present name in 1958. The idea stems from the belief that education of children has the most favourable influence on the education for peace and international understanding. The UNESCO Associated Schools are regular schools with national educational systems, those willing to participate in developing the programmes of international cooperation in the area of human rights, protection of natural environment, understanding of cultural heritage and identities, the right of children and women, etc. The curricular or extracurricular work in such schools is not based on any special textbooks, it relies on the interest shown by students and teachers in participating in international programmes and projects, with the individual initiative and curiosity being the main driving force of successful performance.
In 1994 the World Heritage Centre and the Associated Schools Project jointly launched the youth programme for the preservation of the world cultural and natural heritage. Fifteen countries from all continents, including Croat were selected as the first project participants who~ message, briefly stated, is that national heritage is common good of mankind, that it contributes, on or hand, to a greater awareness of the cultural dentity ( one's own nation and the importance of its preservatio as a prerequisite of the very survival of the nation, an that, on the other hand, it points to the links betwee various cultures and thus contributes to the corre understanding of their mutual influences and interrelation Considering the message of peace and cooperatio emanating from it, the programme has assumed a important place within the concept of the "culture o peace" being advocated by UNESCO as one of the chie objectives of its work at the turn of the century.
The inclusion of Croatian schools (from the Croatian citie on the World Heritage List: Grammar Schools I and II from Split and Grammar School of Dubrovnik) in this programme is a sign of solidarity for the plight of the Croatian cultura and natural heritage during the armed conflict Howeve participating in the project has an even greater meaning if heritage is endangered at a time of war, it is alsc endangered at a time of peace. The examples of vandalisn taking its daily toll in fragiie memories of the past are still frequent. Therefore, the success of the Convention depends for the most part on the attitude of local communities and the determination of the citizens themselves to contribute to the preservation of our common heritage
What is at issue is the awareness of us all, the awareness which should be open to the ideas such as the beautiful, the valuable, the particular, the universal. Just as we tune our ears to the delicate sounds of a symphony, we must train our eyes to recogni2e the cultural and natural values. The main purpose of this project is to make use of the results of the work achieved so far in order to prompt the teachers to offer and the students to ask for more knowledge about the cultural and natural heritage, about its values and the need to save them for posterity. The idea of national identity and cultural identity closely linked to it is, of course, nothing new. What is new is the love we feel for and pride we take in our heritage as a chronicle of the existence of our people and as a way of understanding others.
The World Heritage Youth Programme began as an experimental project in a number of selected countries across the world. The results of the first year of work were presented to the World Heritage Youth Forum in Bergen (Norway) in June 1995. The programme continues: the First European World Heritage Youth Forum (Dubrovnik, Croatia, May 26-31, 1996) is the first one in the line of regional forums which will further develop the workplan for a continuous World Heritage education in schools.
DINO MILINOVIC
Secretary general, Croatian Commission for UNESCO/Ministry of Culture