UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION (UNESCO):

CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION                      OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

Limited distribution                                                 WHC-94/CONF.003/INF.13
                                                                               Paris, 30 November 1994
                                                                  original: French


                       UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL,
                   CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION

                   CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION
                OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

                         WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE

                            Eighteenth session

                             Phuket, Thailand

                           12-17 December, 1994



Report on the Expert Meeting on Routes as a Part of our Cultural
Heritage (Madrid, Spain, November 1994)

*[1]

ROUTES AS PART OF OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE

REPORT ON THE MEETING OF EXPERTS

MADRID 24-25 NOVEMBER 1994

1.AIM OF THE MEETING

      When the Pilgrim's Route to Santiago de Compostela was added to
the World Heritage list in Cartagena in 1993, Spain announced its
intention of bringing together experts to discuss the question of
"cultural routes" in more depth.
      The World Heritage Committee Board approved this initiative at its
meeting held in July 1994 in Paris.
      The following conclusions of the meeting of experts which took
place in Madrid on 24 and 25 November 1994 are submitted to the World
Heritage Committee and the Director General of UNESCO for their
consideration.


2.    A RICH AND FERTILE CONCEPT FOR TODAY'S WORLD

      a). The concept of heritage routes is shown to be a rich and
fertile one, offering a privileged framework in which mutual
understanding, a plural approach to history and a culture of peace can
all operate. It is based on population movement, encounters and
dialogue, cultural exchanges and cross-fertilization, taking place
both in space and time.
      b). The nature of the concept is open, dynamic and evocative,
bringing together the conclusions of the global strategic study
striving to improve the recognition within Heritage "of the economic,
social, symbolic and philosophical dimensions and constant and
countless interactions with the natural environment in all its
diversity".

*[2]


3.    A WIDE RANGE OF INITIATIVES
      
      a). The experts noted numerous initiatives based on the idea of
movement and dialogue. They are being carried out by UNESCO (e.g. the
Silk Route and the slave route), the Council of Europe (European
cultural routes) and by other groups and organisations.
      b). These initiatives fall within the scope of a global vision of
exchanges, which 
includes material, cultural and spiritual ones, combining tangible and
intangible elements, culture and nature. 
      c). The acceptance of these cultural heritage routes leads to
research work on the importance of the exchanges they have generated,
prompts study expeditions, opens up the way for cultural tourism and -
another very important aspect - public awareness programmes and youth
training  schemes.
      d). The protection and promotion of these cultural heritage routes
require skilled management and, more particularly, careful control of
the level of tourism affecting them, as well as the participation of
the inhabitants living in the lands over which the routes cross.
Reference is also made to a land planning policy within a framework of
lasting development.
      e). The experts recommend that the World Heritage Committee and
the Director General of UNESCO ask countries to implement this new
approach, on a nationwide, regionwide and worldwide basis.


4.    INCLUSION OF CULTURAL ROUTES AS PART OF WORLD HERITAGE

   a). The requirement to hold exceptional universal worth should be recalled.
   b). The concept of heritage routes:
         - is based on the dynamics of movement and the idea of
         exchanges, with continuity in space and time;
         - refers to a whole, where the route has a worth over and above
         the sum of the elements making it up and through which it gains
         its cultural SIGNIFICANCE;
         - highlights exchange and dialogue between countries or between
         regions;
         - is multi-dimensional, with different aspects developing and
         adding to its prime purpose which may be religious, commercial,
         administrative or otherwise.
      c). A heritage route may be considered as a specific, dynamic type
of cultural landscape, just as recent debates have led to their
acceptance within the Operational Guidelines.
      d). The identification of a heritage route is based on a
collection of strengths and tangible elements, testimony to the
significance of the route itself (see reference document *[3] in annex 3).
      e). The authenticity test is to be applied on the grounds of its
significance and other elements making up the heritage route.
      It will take into account the duration of the route, and perhaps
how often it is used nowadays, as well as the legitimate wishes for
development of peoples affected.
      These points will be considered within the natural framework of
the route and its intangible and symbolic dimensions.
      f). The experts propose the following addition to the Operational
Guidelines. The new paragraph would follow paragraph 40. This proposal
is put forward at the same time as the suggestions made by the other
meeting of experts held in Canada on the question of canals.


                           PROPOSED NEW PARAGRAPH


      A heritage route is composed of tangible elements of which the
      cultural significance comes from exchanges and a multi-dimensional
      dialogue across countries or regions, and that illustrate the
      interaction of movement, along the route, in space and time.


__________
Annexes
      1 - Meeting Agenda.
      2 - List of participants.
      3 - Reference note on identification criteria.

ANNEXE 1

3. IDENTIFICATION AND DELIMITATION CRITERIA

1. Typology: defining elements

*[ANNEX III/2]

The cultural worth of a route can be measured both by the dynamics (commercial, philosophical, religious) which it may have generated or favoured (transfer of goods, knowledge, know-how) and by the symbolic significance it represents for anyone using it (or for anyone who may have used it, or for anyone referring to it).

There are so many different kinds of routes that some type of classification needs to be established to ensure a better understanding of the subject. Without conducting any specific research the following are some examples of routes which regularly come up in our daily lives: the Odyssey, the silk route, the salt route, the rum trade route, the spice trade route, the waggon trail, the pilgrim's way to Santiago de Compostela, the hadji pilgrimage to Mecca, the slave route, intercontinental rallies, the crusades, Hannibal's alpine crossing, Napoleon's route, and Roman ways.

These different examples given above can immediately be divided up into religious events (pilgrimages, crusades), trade activities (silk, salt, spices), military campaigns (crusades, Napoleon's route, Hannibal's alpine crossing), sports events (the rum race, Paris-Peking rally, Paris-Dakar rally), etc.

It is also possible to pick out those routes which describe specific moments or events in history (taking place just once but leaving their mark: the Odyssey, the Russian campaign) and those which are regular routes (repeated time and time again over centuries and millennia).

Some of the routes can be classified as having strengthened cohesion and exchanges between different peoples (silk, salt, pilgrimages) and others clearly signified aggression and imperialism (slaves, crusades, etc.).

Some routes have a universal worth, whereas the scope of impact of others is more limited (national or local).

Within the context of World Heritage, our idea is to consider routes as a social phenomenon (time needs to go by before any of mankind's creations actually become part of cultural heritage and not simply something in fashion or representing a particular moment or event in history) rather than as an expression of one particular exceptional incident or moment. Even if they did make an impression at the time, routes like Hannibal's trek from North Africa to Rome, crossing the Alps on the way, or the route followed by Napoleon (from the *[ANNEX III/3] island of Elba to Paris) cannot fall under this category. The same can be said about modern-day events that can be likened to treks: early twentieth century intercontinental races and other mechanised rallies (Paris- Peking, Paris-Dakar, etc). They cannot be regarded either as a cultural practice or as having a notable diachronic cultural or commercial effect. They are really just technological tests and/or sporting feats, even if they do generate passion and considerable financial income at a given moment in time.

We intend to consider routes which combine exchanges and journeys and exclude those which are limited to representing a physical way used for travelling: Roman ways would not be classified under this idea of routes although they could still be included on the basis of their architectural or technological interest (for instance).

We could propose considering a route as having exceptional universal cultural heritage worth on the basis of its:

spatial characteristics - the length and diversity (varying) of a route reflect the interest of the exchange and the complexity of the links that it maintains (or maintained).

temporal characteristics - how long it has been in existence and the frequency of use, which could be multiannual, annual, seasonal. It must have established its identity through diachronic practice over sufficient time to leave its imprint on mankind.

cultural characteristics - the fact that it includes cross- cultural aspects (or effects), e.g. it links remote ethnic and cultural groups and fosters their mutual progress through exchange. Its capacity to bring together different peoples.

role or purpose - the fact that it has been used to exchange spiritual goods (religious or philosophical) or basic necessities for the survival of communities or has contributed to their development (trade in foodstuffs, minerals, manufactured goods, etc.).

 

*[ANNEX III/4]

On the contrary, this very fact has granted a mythological or symbolic value to the route which it never acquired simply through its material use, turning it into an almost legendary phenomenon.

2. Material nature:

Delimiting the route

Political events (wars, coup d'états, diplomatic hazards) or natural disasters (floods, droughts) have wrought great changes on routes and this is something we should realise and take into account.

Identifying important heritage components

concentration points (departure, arrival);

lodging places (on overland journeys there are often reception points every 40 km) (caravanserais, hostels etc);

watering holes (for animals and men, such as wells, springs and fountains);

 

compulsory passing places: fords, bridges, mountain passes, ports, etc.

 

Furthermore, every long journey needed some kind of specific organisation beforehand (caravan leader, travel and protection agreements), experts to take part (guides, navigators), and documents to be held (safe-conducts, passports, visas, bills of exchange, etc.).

It is important too for us to compile documentation on all these services which enabled the journey to take place along the route.

Another original feature of routes, compared with any other category of site forming part of World Heritage, is certainly the fact that they are not limited to the elements making up their material nature (the physical way itself). We have to add to this aspect specific interactions between human groups over and beyond political barriers. This does not only include the objects, products, or the results of direct exchange (i.e. elements researched and declared as such, e.g. silk), themselves, but also any indirect, subsequent products, which often have had more important cultural consequences, such as the introduction of Buddhism into China. Consequently, the acceptance of routes as part of World Heritage should generate significant and varied research work in this field to bring out all their different dimensions and the impact they may have had on the peoples and cultures involved.

Such work may also lead to the preparation and implementation of the strategy to signpost the site as part of World Heritage: route boards, specific milestones, gateways to entrance and exit points or to important crossroads, etc.

Routes and natural heritage

*[ANNEX III/6]

In fact, some routes have really only been able to develop because the ecosystems crossed allowed travel to take place (by providing resources). It would be useful to consider the present condition of this natural heritage and to preserve the elements which even now may still indicate the conditions of usage which existed when these routes were in intensive use.

3. Inventory method:

4. Delimitation criteria:

Spatial criteria

Temporal criteria

*[ANNEX III/7]

Cultural criteria

5. Submission procedures:

The most desirable method is for the relevant request to be made with the agreement of all the countries concerned which would make a joint application. However, the inherent risk in this procedure is that it may be blocked by differences in appraisal of priorities, for a particular country may believe it is more urgent to submit a site that is wholly located in its national territory than to collaborate on the recognition of a route.

In the case of transnational routes, the problem of legislation (management, protection, ownership, financial aid) will also arise.

Can we imagine registration requests being made, for example, by a country anxious to preserve a particular route crossing its territory without all the other countries concerned participating in the initiative? Would total acceptance of the route only take place as and when the other countries concerned subscribed to the application?