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World Heritage belongs to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which it is located. World Heritage connects the diversity of culture and nature and contributes to respect for each other.
YOU DON’T BECOME WORLD HERITAGE OVERNIGHT
Each World Heritage site in the Kingdom of the Netherlands tells the story of its outstanding, universal value. It is unique and irreplaceable – not just in our Kingdom, but in the whole world. Only UNESCO can designate an area and/or building as World Heritag.
UNESCO
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) was founded in 1945 and is part of the United Nations. UNESCO’s purpose is to achieve peace and security for all people of the world. Through conventions, UNESCO is committed to protecting culture and promoting cultural diversity. Conventions include the World Heritage Convention, intangible cultural heritage, and protecting cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict.
WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION
The World Heritage Convention of 1972 is UNESCOʹs̕ best-known convention. It was signed by all UNESCO member states. The convention is intended to preserve a heritage site (area and/or building) that is of outstanding universal value for humanity and thus for future generations. Under this convention, the member states have agreed to protect, conserve, identify and provide access to their World Heritage Sites. Our Kingdom, with the Netherlands as a member state, signed the World Heritage Convention in 1992.
WORLD HERITAGE IN DANGER
When a World Heritage Site is seriously threatened, possibly even disappearing (in part), it is put on the list of World Heritage in Danger. The World Heritage Site will be evaluated at the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee and encourage the World Heritage Site to corrective action. If, despite the efforts, the conditions are still threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List and there is no improvement, it will be removed from the World Heritage List. This has happened three times since the World Heritage List began in 1978. If there is an improvement and the unique value can be sufficiently protected, it will be removed from the list of World Heritage in Danger.
WORLD HERITAGE (2021)
- 1.154 properties (218 natural sites and 897 cultural locaties)
- 39 mixed
- 52 in danger
- 167 states parties
- Three sites have been delisted since the list began.
See all World Heritage Sites? Click here: whc.unesco.org
FROM HERITAGE TO WORLD HERITAGE
From heritage to World Heritage is a long procedure and can take up to 15 years. And the proceedings remain exciting until the very end. Look at the poster below to see the steps that are taken.
For more information look at our "Factsheet".