Since the adoption of the World Heritage Convention in 1972, consensus on its criteria and operational guidelines has been shaped by a rich international discussion strongly influenced by the heritage policies of its 176state parties, including the United States. Reciprocally, World Heritage policies and principles have returned home to every country to refine and enhance each nations’ ability to address the complexity of its cultural and national heritage. LEARNING FROM WORLD HERITAGE:

Lessons in International Preservation & Stewardship of

Cultural & Natural Resources of Global Significance

Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA

25-27 March 2004

An indispensable symposium for all involved in heritage protection and management

A major influence in this exchange was the search in recent decades by preservation stewardship professionals, agencies and institutions in many nations for ways to protect and interpret areas whose significance is inextricably bound to both natural and cultural resources. In the early 1990s, after a decade of extensive debate, the World Heritage Committee adopted definitions of designed, evolved and associative landscapes and an evaluation structure that enable ICOMOS to inscribe cultural landscapes of universal value in the World Heritage List. During the same period, the consideration of natural resources progressed under IUCN. In the United States, conceptualizing heritage at the territorial level has led to the rapid growth of heritage areas and corridors as tools for both preservation and community development. Within ICOMOS, the territorial concept of a cultural itinerary has been effectively expanded to address assemblies of non-contiguous territories unified by an overarching theme. The effectiveness of de-fragmenting protective mechanisms through consolidation of valued heritage into broader protected territories is indicated by the diversity of cultural itineraries and cultural landscapes recently inscribed in the World Heritage List.

Today, after more than a decade of global activity, it is timely to re-examine preservation and conservation work at the intersection of cultural and natural resources in an interdisciplinary forum. The Scientific Committee of the 7th US/ICOMOS International Symposium requests 250 to 300 word abstracts of papers from professionals in any nation of the world that address resources of national and global significance focusing on progress, emerging trends, current issues in:

Global and national thinking about international charters, declarations, philosophical constructs and national guidance for the stewardship of cultural landscapes, heritage areas, protected areas, biosphere reserves, and mixed resources of national and global significance;
Proven practices and challenges in addressing the protection, understanding, enjoyment and sustainability of cultural landscapes, heritage areas, protected areas, biosphere reserves, and mixed resources of national and global significance;
Identification, designation, protection, interpretation, management and financing for inhabited areas rich in cultural and natural resources of national and global significance;
Preservation of the cultural and natural resources and uniqueness of communities in and adjoining heritage areas, biosphere reserves, and cultural landscapes addressing financial, social and cultural investments and benefits to the local inhabitants.
US/ICOMOS seeks interesting and challenging papers providing a global geographic capture to address these topics as a platform for dialogue among presenters those attending. An exploration of current practices, successes and conflicts in the emerging areas of integrated cultural and natural resource protection, planning, stewardship, management and interpretation is anticipated.

The 7th US/ICOMOS International Symposium will be held in Natchitoches, Louisiana, a city of rich heritage in northwestern Louisiana, USA. Co-sponsors are the United States Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (US/ICOMOS), the National Park Service National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, the Cane River National Heritage Area Commission. Partners in the symposium include the Cane River National Historical Park, Northwestern State University, the City of Natchitoches, the Louisiana Preservation Alliance, the Natchitoches Historic Foundation, Natchitoches Main Street and the Natchitoches Parish Tourist Commission.

Please send abstracts by 7 November 2003, in English, by e-mail, either within the main text of the message or as attachments in Word or Word Perfect files to: symposium@usicomos.org. Submit any illustrations attached in jpeg format. Authors selected for presenting fully developed papers in Natchitoches will be notified by 2 January 2003. The 2004 Scientific Committee members are Patricia M. O’Donnell, FASLA, AICP, chair, Kirk Cordell, NCPTT, Saidee Newell, Natchitoches, Charles Leider, FASLA, Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA and Darwina Neal, FASLA. Papers selected will be presented in English, as no simultaneous translation will be provided at the Symposium. The US/ICOMOS 2004 Symposium Scientific Committee may invite authors of papers not selected for presentation to prepare their work for a poster session.All papers will be published in a set of bound proceedings later in 2004.Note: US/ICOMOS will make every attempt to secure funding (but cannot guarantee) to cover all or part of the travel costs of speakers whose papers are selected for presentation at the 7th International Symposium.

—
Dr JoAnn Cassar B.Sc. Ph.D. FIIC FGS CChem MRSC
Stone Conservation Scientist
Institute for Masonry and Construction Research
University of Malta
Msida MSD 06
Malta

e-mail: joann.cassar@um.edu.mt
Tel: (356) 2340 2866
Fax: (356) 2134 6225