Opening Ceremony of the 43rd Session of the World Heritage Committee

Opening Ceremony of the 43rd Session of the World Heritage Committee

Heydar Aliyev Center
1 Heydar Aliyev Avenue
Baku, AZ 1033

43rd session of the World Heritage Committee

BI Rheinpassagen ist akkreditiert.

43rd session of the World Heritage Committee
Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan
30 June – 10 July 2019

The 7th International NGO Forum on World Heritage

“EkoSfera” Sosial-Ecological Center, Baku, 29 June 2019

P r o g r a m

9:00 Plenary Session

Welcome by Stephan Doempke, World Heritage Watch
Welcome by Firuza Sultan-zade, “EkoSfera” Social-Ecological Center

9:15 Perspectives of Cooperation of Civil Society and Statutory Bodies of the World Heritage Convention

Moderator: Stephan Doempke

Mechtild Roessler, Director, UNESCO Division for Heritage and World Heritage Centre (tbc)
Toshiyuki Kono, President, International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
Peter Shadie, Director World Heritage Programme, International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)

Suggested Items for Discussion:
Time and Place of Future WHW Fora Potential contributions of WHW to IUCN and ICOMOS
General Conferences Common Goals and Activities for the 50th Anniversary of the WH Convention

10:45 Coffee break and Group Photo

11:15 Plenary Session: Policy Papers

Moderator: Stephan Doempke

Policy Paper on Climate Change
Presenter: Adam Markham, Union of Concerned Scientists
Dicussion

Policy Paper on Hydroelectric Dams
Presenter: Eugene Simonov, Rivers without Boundaries Coalition
Discussion

Nature at Risk - How Politicization is Limiting the Effectiveness of the World Heritage Convention
Presenter: Olivia de Willermin, Worldwide Fund for Nature
Discussion

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Plenary Session

World Heritage Watch Networking Meeting
Moderator: Stephan Doempke

Suggested Items for Discussion
Planning of work on Policy Issues
Preparation for the 50th Anniversary of the Convention
Working modalities of WHW

15:15 Parallel Sessions

1. Azerbaijan NGO Networking Meeting
   Moderators: Stephan Doempke (World Heritage Watch), Firuza Sultan-zade ( SEC “EkoSfera” )
2. Indigenous Peoples Permanent Forum on World Heritage Meeting
   Moderator: Chrissy Grant (IPPFWH)
3. Drafting Resolutions

16:30 Coffee break

17:00 Closing Plenary

Adoption of Resolutions

18:00 End of NGO Forum

Evening Program

After the end of the Forum, participants are invited by our host NGO Ekosfera to an

Excursion to the Ateshga Fire Sanctuary and Qutab Dinner Party at the Castle (Gala)

These locations are in the vicinity of the airport. We will all be taken there and return together by a chartered bus.

The Ateshga sanctuary, according to tradition is the place of origin of Zoroastrism, the so-called "religion of fire", one of the most important heritage sites of Azerbaijan.

From there we will continue to the nearby Castle where Ekosfera has its second Center, and we will be treated to traditional Azerbaijani food, tea from the Samovar and a taste of Azeri wine.

BI Rheinpassagen in Azerbaijan auf Exkursion

WHW und BI Rheinpassagen auf Exkursion in Azerbaijan

Es scheint als sei das 6. NGO Forum Paris 2019 im Februar - WHW & Greenpeace - erfolgreich gewesen.

Die UNESCO macht in ihrer Draft Decision deutlich, dass es bislang keine wirksamen Verbesserungen in Sachen Bahnlärm gibt, dass der Güterverkehr langfristig auf einer Alternativtrasse fahren sollte oder zumindest aber deutlich reduziert werden sollte.

Die UNESCO ist wegen der Tunnelrestaurierung gegenüber der Loreley besorgt, da diese den OUV des Welterbes gefährden könnte.

Die UNESCO favorisiert ortsnahe (klimafreundliche) Lösungen für eine Verbesserung der Rheinquerung um die lokalen Bedürfnisse der Bewohner des Welterbes zu erfüllen.

Das Welterbezentrum möchte sich gemeinsam mit ICOMOS die Auswirkungen bereits umgesetzter und geplanter Maßnahmen ansehen, um diese bzgl. des OUV zu bewerten.

Draft Decision: 43 COM 7B.83

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7B.45, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Noting the recommencement of planning for a permanent river crossing, reiterates its request to the State Party to involve the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, at the earliest possible stage in the appraisal of options undertaken in a wide regional strategic context, but focusing on developing solutions for local needs, and before any decisions are taken;
4. Welcomes the State Party’s continuous commitment to reduce rail-related noise levels in the property, notes however with regret that no effective result was achieved so far, and notes with concern the plans to upgrade railway tunnels between St. Goar and Oberwesel in a manner that could potentially harm the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, therefore, encourages the State Party to develop long term solutions for diverting freight train traffic from the property or effectively reduce their traffic flow;
5. Also welcomes the decision to withdraw the application for the installation of the wind farm project on Ranselberg Hill, near the municipality of Lorch, and strongly encourages the State Party:
   • to reject the application for the extension of the wind farm on the Kandrich Hill, near the municipality of Oberdiebach,
   • to harmonize its legislative tools and criteria for the assessment of the impact of wind farms on the OUV of the property and its buffer zone, and develop systematic mapping for identifying sensitive areas within the property, its buffer zone and beyond, also considering culturally significant visual aspects, key views, viewpoints, panoramas, silhouettes and other factors related to its OUV;
6. Also encourages the State Party to provide revised detailed plans with a spatial assessment document that includes a Visual Impact Assessment on the cultural landscape for the Holiday Resort Sankt-Goar-Werlau, to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, and before any irrevocable decisions are taken;
7. Commends the State Party for its effort to update the Management Plan of the property into a consolidated document with the Master Plan, and also requests the State Party to provide the draft consolidated document to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, in order to ensure that its recommendations and comments can be appropriately taken into account in the final document;
8. Further welcomes the initiative of the State Party to invite an ICOMOS Advisory mission to the property in 2019 to assess the extension of the Koblenz cable car operating permit, nevertheless, further requests the State Party to invite instead a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to assess the impact of already implemented changes and provide expert advice on how to assess, mitigate or avert the potential cumulative adverse impact on the OUV of the property of prospective projects, including the upgrading of three railway tunnels, and the Federal Horticultural Show 2029;

Quelle: http://whc.unesco.org/archive/2019/whc19-43com-7B-en.pdf

43. Sitzung des UNESCO-Welterbekomitees in Baku, Azerbaijan

Die BI Rheinpassagen setzt sich in Baku für ein leises, klimafreundliches und zukunftsfähiges Welterbe Oberes Mittelrheintal ein.

BI Rheinpassagen fährt zur 43. Sitzung des UNESCO-Welterbekomitees nach Baku in Azerbaijan.

Die "Bürgerinitiative Rheinpassagen" wird bei der 43. Sitzung des UNESCO-Welterbekomitees vom 30. Juni bis zum 10. Juli in Baku (Azerbaijan) vertreten sein. Elke Greiff Gossen und Jan-Bernd Gossen sind akkreditiert.

Im Vorfeld findet am 29. Juni das 7. internationale NGO Forum von World Heritage im "EkoSfera" Sosial-Ecological Center in Baku statt.

Gäste des Forums sind unter anderen

• Mechthild Rösler, Director, UNESCO Division for Heritage and World Heritage Centre (tbc)
• Toshiyuki Kono, President, International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
• Peter Shadie, Director World Heritage Programme, International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)