News
International Scientific Committee Holds First Trimester Meeting on Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Property
• Post-disaster recovery: Lessons learnt
• Integrated management framework
• Cultural heritage information management system and
• Capacity building
Commencing the meeting, Mr Damodar Gautam, Director-General of the Department of Archaeology, highlighted significant strides in restoration, with over 80% of damaged sites already restored and the rest 20% under progress.
Similarly, Mr Michael Croft, UNESCO Representative to Nepal, expressed how important it is to come together to discuss common issues and jointly find ways forward in the protection of the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Property. He further added, “The recent application by the Kathmandu and Lalitpur Metropolitan Cities to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network is a significant positive step forward.”
Prof. Roland Lin, Project Officer from UNESCO World Heritage Centre called upon all stakeholders to bring synergies across the work of various UNESCO Culture Conventions and Programmes on World Heritage, Intangible Heritage and Creative Cities Network and expressed satisfaction on the good timing of the establishment of the ISC by Nepal’s Department of Archeology to further continue with standard management procedures. In a similar expression, Professor Yukio Nishimura, an Architecture and Urban Planning expert, while applauding the ongoing reconstruction work, expressed his concern on the limited documentation available. He suggested a new effort to complete documentation that will be required by future generations.
We need to have a mechanism to manage local communities that emotionally and voluntarily play their roles at times of emergencies, as well as that of the regional and international actors, especially to do the right heritage debris management.
The experts and the representatives from different municipalities earnestly engaged in in-depth discussions centred around strategies for establishing priorities, defining key tasks, and safeguarding the site's cultural and historical significance, its authenticity, integrity, and attributes including living heritage and associated spaces contributing to the site’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The open discussions created a holistic space for participants and the experts to interact and expressed their concerns on the works in progress and provided feedback on the plans ahead.
Experts/professionals’ recommendations
- Adopting multi-stakeholders’ and interdisciplinary approach towards preparing the post-disaster recovery lessons and on the need to protect sub-surface heritage assets and intangible heritage beyond tangible ones.
- Documentation shall go beyond its focus on reconstruction and cover soft aspects such as quality achieved using skilled craftspeople and artisan, as well as the values and belief systems, and stories that evolves over time keeping a monument alive.
- Adoption of better approach on heritage debris management, including to ensure the technical know - how of the first and second responders, and to educate the current and future generations about the inherent traditional knowledge system, stressing research and documentation are keys to sustainability.
Participants’ recommendations
- Improving the existing procurement procedure by reviewing in-depth for any loopholes and initiating the needed amendment, while clarifying the scope and procedures each for heritage conservation/restoration and reconstruction.
- Integrating UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach in local municipal plan and management framework.
- Information management system for the Cultural Heritage database, including its ownership, accessibility, and content.
- Using the cultural heritage information management system (CHIMS) as a base for documenting the current state of conservation, past and ongoing research work, periodic monitoring, reporting and assessment of future vulnerabilities, including new developments, as well to guide the restoration process, and rebuild heritage after disaster, hence most essential tool for local municipalities and Department of Archaeology (DoA).
- Various approaches to the training of heritage managers (online, in-person, on-the-job, mentoring, practical sessions and learning with processes such as developing a conservation plan for a monument zone, etc.)
- Raising awareness of broader communities and stakeholders
- Intervention in the education system and the need to roll out capacity to the local municipalities as key stakeholders for the new responsibilities they are having in the federal context.
Prof Robin Coningham provides his expert feedback on the conservation and management of Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Property in the trimester meeting. International experts attended the meeting online, while most national experts and stakeholders were present physically.
In the end, the meeting participants pledged to continue working collaboratively towards the site’s safeguarding and sustainable management.
In the months ahead, the International Scientific Committee will help shape a sustainable future for Kathmandu Valley and its focus on preserving living history highlights the crucial role international cooperation can play in this regard to protect the rich cultural legacy of the Kathmandu Valley for generations to come.
