Phase 1 - Preparing

In this first phase, you will build the foundations for the assessment. You should have a well-thought out plan to guide you through the assessment. This plan should clearly state:

• Who will be involved and their responsibilities, including those of the convenor(s) and implementation team (see Figure 3.1).
• The programme and timeline for the assessment.
• How to store the relevant information collected, and how to make it available to participants before, during and after the assessment.
• How you will communicate the findings of the assessment, and to whom.

You will also need to decide on the level of the assessment. You may choose to:

• undertake a full assessment using all 12 tools;
• use some of the tools to supplement existing monitoring and evaluation processes; or
• start with a partial assessment, based on some of the tools, and plan a full assessment for the future.

Use Box 2.1 to help you plan the level of assessment. Bear in mind that this is only a preliminary choice, as the level of assessment will also depend on the information available (to be assessed in Phase 2).

The assessment will produce the best results if it is based on a collaborative process, involving multiple actors with responsibilities for managing the World Heritage property A cultural, natural or mixed heritage place inscribed on the World Heritage List and therefore considered to be of OUV for humanity. The responsibility for nominating a property to the World Heritage List falls upon the State(s) Party(ies) where it is located. The World Heritage Committee decides whether a property should be inscribed on the World Heritage List, taking into account the technical recommendations of the Advisory Bodies following rigorous evaluation processes.
When used as a general term, World Heritage refers to all the natural, cultural and mixed properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. or other heritage place. It is vital that collaboration starts at the preparation phase, since it lays the foundation for the rest of the assessment process. The best way to do this is to hold an introductory session to:

• Spend time introducing and getting to know other people, since you will be working closely together on the assessment.
• Introduce the Toolkit to all those who will be involved in the assessment.
• Explain the purpose of conducting a management effectiveness assessment.
• Identify people’s willingness and capacity to participate in the assessment.
• Agree clear rules on how to hold the discussions during the assessment, how people’s contributions will be used and if they are subject to free, prior and informed consent or other privacy and confidentiality considerations.
• Discuss how you are going to collect the necessary information and data to support the assessment.
• Decide how people will access the information collected and how they will be kept involved and engaged through the whole process.
• Agree on critical elements to help the implementation team develop the plan for the assessment, such as the time-frame, how you will decide on the level of the assessment and what else needs to be done before you start using the assessment tools.
• Decide how the findings of the assessment will be used, how they will be communicated and to whom.