Heritage Advocacy Working Group

The issuing of Heritage Alerts for cultural landscapes at risk, are an important part of our work as a Scientific Committee, as is advocacy for a careful analysis of potential impacts to cultural landscapes from proposed developments.

While a Heritage Alert is our strongest level of advocacy, from time to time we also issue letters advocating for a measured and informed process of development review.

Heritage Alerts for cultural landscapes at risk, are an important part of our work as a Scientific Committee.  The aim of Heritage Alerts are to publicize threats to cultural heritage.  Our goal is to alert the public, especially the news media, to the importance of the cultural landscape at risk and the specific impact that the threat may have.  Heritage Alerts are issued on cultural landscapes of international, national and local importance, but not on cultural landscapes or other cultural heritage inscribed on the World Heritage List.  Those follow a different a process involving ICOMOS and the World Heritage Committee.

The request for a Heritage Alert can come from a range of  individuals, governments and NGOs, but it always begins at the ICOMOS Secretariat, and goes through a formal process that confirms both the significance of the cultural landscape and that the threat is fully understood.

There is a 5-step process for issuing a Heritage Alert, illustrated to the right (click on the image to enlarge):