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Declaration
 
Declaration
of Newcastle.pdf (27.9 Kb)
Declaration of Newcastle
The 340 Participants from 46 countries at the Tenth International
Seminar of Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage held at the International
Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies (ICCHS) of the University of
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom (11 – 16 April 2005) entitled
“Cultural Landscapes in the 21st Century: Laws, Management
and Public Participation: Heritage as a Challenge of Citizenship”,
an Inter-Congress of the World Archaeological Congress, with the participation
of ICOMOS UK:
CONSIDERING
In general
- That the fundamental role and responsibility of Forum UNESCO –
University and Heritage is to promote understanding, exchange and
cooperation between universities, agencies, and practitioners researching
and working with heritage;
- That such research and practical work must take into account the
aspirations and requirements of communities affected by the management
of heritage;
- That, given these roles and responsibilities, the work of Forum
UNESCO – University and Heritage is central and fundamental
to the wider roles and responsibilities of UNESCO;
- The considerable difficulties met by many universities to cover
the costs of participation in the activities of Forum UNESCO –
University and Heritage;
In particular, with regard to Cultural Landscapes,
- The importance of Cultural Landscapes in the implementation of
the 1972 World Heritage Convention,
- That Cultural Landscapes are a fundamental and integral part of
the environment of communities who live within them or who have association
with them;
- That neither the universal character nor the academic understanding
of Cultural Landscapes should be to the detriment of local communities
nor should they lead to the expropriation of Cultural Landscapes by
external agencies, but on the contrary, that such character and understanding
should regard local communities as essential intrinsic living elements
of landscapes;
- That all policies relating to and affecting Cultural Landscapes
must respect the, frequently intangible, lifestyles of communities
living within such landscapes and must make provision for appropriate
access requirements and cultural rights;
- That these lifestyles, access requirements and cultural rights
must be respected as much as the tangible elements of the landscape
despite the fact that they may on occasion be invisible, non-obvious,
non-economic relations or values which are difficult for academics
and professional practitioners to perceive, appreciate, or classify;
- That all cultures, and by implication all Cultural Landscapes, are
always dynamic, and that the definition of authenticity as stressed
in the Nara Document on Authenticity (1994) should be applied to them;
- That cities and other urban centres have as much potential to be
Cultural Landscapes as rural landscapes and that great care should
be taken not to allow the commodification of urban Cultural Landscapes
through inappropriate restoration or marketing of the refurbishing
of contemporary cities;
- That Cultural Landscapes are not only enjoyable and convivial places
but that they can also be places of pain, suffering, death, war, therapy,
reconciliation and memory;
- That the World Heritage List counts 50 Cultural Landscapes worldwide
to this date, thus showing the diversity and the universality of this
concept, as well as the variety of protection and management mechanisms;
- That, further to the adoption of the concept of Cultural Landscapes
by the World Heritage Committee in 1992, great advances have been
made through the development of ideas relating to the identification,
protection and management of Cultural Landscapes in Europe through
the 2000 European Landscape Convention and that these advances could
inform similar developments in other regions of the world;
- That much information regarding the development of Cultural Landscapes
is provided through, inter alia, archaeological investigation as well
as oral history;
RECOMMEND
In general that
1. UNESCO acknowledges the key role
and responsibilities of Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage in
the investigation, identification, creation and dissemination of knowledge
and understanding with respect to the multi-vocal and multi-faceted aspects
of all heritage and its management and use, and that, in order to fully
carry out this role and responsibilities, Forum UNESCO– University
and Heritage should receive core funding from the UNESCO programme and
budget (C/5)
Such core funding should enable:
- holding one major annual international seminar where costs of conference
administration, simultaneous translation, and full attendance of at
least 50 less-advantaged participants, including students, would be
covered without taking into account the ability to raise funds of
the place where such meetings would be held;
- publication of the conference proceedings in suitable peer-reviewed
format[s]; dissemination of these proceedings among the international
and academic communities;
- fellowships for academics and/or practitioners to develop the work
of Forum UNESCO - University and Heritage and in particular the development
of capacity-building activities with respect to heritage research,
management and use;
- fellowships for students from less-advantaged countries to train
at universities that are part of Forum UNESCO - University and Heritage;
2. UNESCO encourages its Member States
and the private sector to contribute to the work of Forum UNESCO –
University and Heritage through donations and/or fellowships.
In particular that
- The concept of Cultural Landscapes as recognized by the World Heritage
Committee should be represented more fully in its variety and diversity
worldwide on the World Heritage List;
- The advances that have been made through the development of ideas
relating to the identification, protection and management of Cultural
Landscapes in Europe through the 2000 European Landscape Convention
should inform, but not dictate, similar developments in other regions
of the world;
- Cultural Landscapes are best protected and sustainably developed
through the careful implementation of comprehensive management plans
that include policies for interpretation and education as well as
research, conservation and tourism; UNESCO should encourage the preparation
of such plans and the training of local staff to [a] write and revise
such plans wherever possible and [b] develop the widest possible educational
use of Cultural Landscapes;
- Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage should disseminate
among the network affiliates the ‘best practice’ manual
for the management of Cultural Landscapes which is under preparation;
- Local communities and, where relevant, Indigenous Peoples, should
be fully integrated into the identification of sites and landscapes
and to the production of all holistic management plans;
- Forum UNESCO – University and Heritage should encourage researchers
and practitioners to work with local communities to be involved in
the identification process and to be part of the holistic and sustainable
management of Cultural Landscapes and through a variety of management
techniques (such as in-depth collaboration, surveys, and evaluation)
to ascertain local community expectations with respect to their relationship
to the landscape and to enhance their capacity to play a full and
active part in the management and development of any relevant Cultural
Landscape[s];
- National, regional and local governments should have an obligation
to engage in a dialogue with Indigenous Peoples and local communities
to address the protection of traditional cultural properties through
legislation, regulations and cooperative relationships and that extreme
care be taken that management of Cultural Landscapes does not result
in the dispossession of Indigenous Peoples or local communities; this
dialogue should involve the participation of universities and professional
practitioners;
- Legal instruments and guidelines should be developed and implemented
at the national, regional and local level, reflecting international
instruments such as the 1972 UNESCO Convention on the protection of
cultural and natural World Heritage and the 2003 UNESCO Convention
for the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage;
- Cultural Landscapes should be enhanced and developed in a sustainable
manner by observing recommendations and guidelines as suggested in
documents such as ICOMOS’ International Cultural Tourism Charter
(Managing Tourism at Places of Heritage Significance) (1999) and the
WTO/OMT Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (1999);
- The use of traditional materials and skills, and the cultural understanding
and interpretation embedded in this knowledge, should be encouraged
and supported, not only in the conservation, management and restoration
of the existing landscapes (including habitats and buildings) but
also for new constructions within any given landscape.
FURTHER NOTE THAT
- Change, as part of the positive dynamic process, in Cultural Landscapes
should not be seen as loss, but as part of the context in which we
must act;
- The relationships between communities and landscape should be understood
as not only concerning economic sustainable development, but also
the actual well-being of the community with respect to its cultural,
social, and environmental development and to its intellectual rights
and property ownership regarding landscape;
- Cultural Landscapes should be identified not simply as places to
be visited but rather as convivial meeting places allowing for cultural
exchange and mutual understanding of cultural diversity;
- Cultural diversity should be recognised thereby reinforcing the
feeling of belonging to a common human condition experienced through
respect and full acceptance of differences, both of which should be
regarded as factors of reciprocal enrichment;
- The scope and the borders of Cultural Landscapes should be defined
in partnership with relevant local communities;
- Careful attention should be given to the landscape surrounding Cultural
Landscapes (including possible ‘buffer zones’) as the
area[s] surrounding Cultural Landscapes play[s] a significant role
in the identification, definition and conservation of such Cultural
Landscapes;
- The cultural value that contributes to the identification and definition
of a Cultural Landscapes, even if it is intangible, must be acknowledged
since without this (sometimes intangible) value, activities that help
define the Cultural Landscapes (for example, festivals, religious
or sporting events) would not be held;
- Cultural Landscapes should be conceived in a holistic manner, drawing
upon and associating all human senses;
- Cultural Landscapes representing human pain, suffering, death, war,
therapy, reconciliation and memory, should be better taken into consideration,
not only with respect to their inscription on the World Heritage List
but also for their role in conservation, research, education, mutual
understanding and peace-building.
Newcastle sur Tyne, 16 April 2005
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