6.1

The need to focus on results

KEY POINTS
  • The management system for World Heritage All inherited assets which people value for reasons beyond mere utility. Heritage is a broad concept and includes shared legacies from the natural environment, the creations of humans and the creations and interactions between humans and nature. It encompasses built, terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments, landscapes and seascapes, biodiversity, geodiversity, collections, cultural practices, knowledge, living experiences, etc.   aims for results that will protect and conserve the heritage place, contribute to the sustainable development of the place bringing benefits to those that are associated with it, and continuously improve the system as a whole through its processes.
  • Management effectiveness assessments can help identify what is working well in the management system, what can be done better and what improvements are required to respond to existing and emerging challenges. In this way, managers can increase the performance of the management system and ensure it is delivering the best results.
  • Regular monitoring of the implementation of the plan can provide feedback on the progress being made and help managers identify any such challenges as they arise.
  • The information collected and lessons learned from implementation monitoring should be used to assess progress, make course corrections and inform the next planning cycle.

The ultimate purpose of the management system is to achieve positive results for the heritage place and in particular ensuring:

  1. the OUV and other heritage values of the heritage place are maintained (see 3.1)
  2. all the management objectives are being achieved (see 5.2) – including the delivery of services and benefits and contribution to sustainable development (see 3.5).

A focus on results is therefore needed, to critically ascertain whether the management system is performing in delivering what it sets out to achieve, maintaining the aspects of the system that are effective and continuously improving the system where it is not achieving the desired results.

On a regular and continuing basis, it is therefore essential that there are mechanisms to reflect on the outputs and outcomes that have been achieved, to plan the next steps, but also plan and promote changes in the management system that will benefit both heritage and people. In the management cycle, this work is proposed to focus on two different priorities, firstly evaluating the outputs and outcomes that have been achieved to see how the situation may have changed and identify what has worked or not, and secondly considering what sorts of improvements to the system should be promoted. To understand whether the different elements of the management system are interacting in the best possible way, it is necessary to check the health of the management system as a whole, at regular intervals.

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